$77m ATM fraud: Hacker pleads guilty

NEW YORK • A Turkish hacker pleaded guilty in a New York court over his involvement in a series of cyber attacks that enabled US$55 million (S$77 million) to be siphoned from ATMs around the world.

Ercan Findikoglu, 34, is said to have masterminded a scheme that saw stolen debit card data used to make fraudulent ATM withdrawals worldwide.

Prosecutors have called the scheme one of the most successful and coordinated bank heists in history, enabling in one attack in 2013 the withdrawal of US$40 million from ATMs in 24 countries in a matter of about 10 hours.

Findikoglu and other high-ranking members of the scheme got proceeds in the form of wire transfer, electronic currency or personal deliveries of cash.

REUTERS

An April invitation to 'Hack the Pentagon'

SAN FRANCISCO • The Pentagon yesterday said it would invite vetted outside hackers to test the cyber security of some of its public websites as part of a pilot project next month, in the first-ever such programme offered by the US government.

"Hack the Pentagon" is modelled after similar contests held by big US companies. It aims to identify problems in the security of the networks before malicious hackers can exploit them. The initiative is being led by the Defence Digital Service, which was set up last November to bring experts from the US technology industry into the military for short stints.

REUTERS