China Likely Behind Multiple Computer Breaches at US Bank Insurer

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The government of China was likely responsible for breaching US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) computers in 2010, 2011 and 2013, according to an interim report released by the US House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology on Wednesday.

In May 2013, then-FDIC Inspector General Jon Rymer informed FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg in a memorandum of computer security breaches at the agency.

"[T]he 2013 Memo found that in October 2010, the FDIC's Division of Information Security learned that ‘an FDIC employee's desktop computer had been compromised by an advanced persistent threat’," the report stated. "The advanced persistent threat in this case is believed to have been the Chinese government."

The congressional committee investigation revealed that the same actor was able to compromise the FDIC computers in 2011 and again in April 2013. In total, 12 FDIC computers were compromised and ten servers were infected with a virus.

The affected workstations included those of high-level FDIC officials, including the former Chairman, Chair of Staff and General Counsel of the agency, the report noted.

The report was released in the middle of a congressional investigation into the FDIC’s cybersecurity failures. The committee noted that the FDIC Office of the Inspector General issued a report on July 8 that contradicted earlier statements the agency made to lawmakers about its security practices.

The FDIC is an independent US agency that insures US consumers’ bank deposits up to $250,000.