Sensitive Bank Data Exposed by Email Hack, U.S. Regulator Confirms

On Tuesday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) acknowledged that a cyberattack on its email system in February had uncovered crucial data, categorizing the event as a 'significant episode.'

This breach, which came to light in February and was shortly thereafter mitigated, implicated information related to the financial standings of banks overseen by federal regulations, influencing the OCC's examination and supervisory activities.

The OCC disclosed that the hack was detected on February 11, prompting them to secure compromised admin accounts the day after. The agency has since enlisted external cybersecurity advisors to thoroughly investigate the breach and is undertaking a review of its IT security protocols to block potential future threats.

Acting Comptroller Rodney Hood declared, 'Swift actions are being taken to determine the breach's full impact and to correct any long-standing organizational flaws that facilitated this incident.'

He further stressed the importance of full accountability for identifying any vulnerabilities and internal lapses that permitted unauthorized system access.