On October 26th, 2011, Andrea Shalal-Esa and Jim Finkle reported for Reuters on how the NSA has begun providing Wall Street banks with intelligence on foreign hackers. The article notes that this assistance from the NSA is reflective of a broader effort by American banks and financial firms to get help from the US military and private defense contractors in fending off cyberattacks. NSA Director Gen. Keith Alexander told Reuters that the NSA is currently sharing electronic information on malicious software with financial firms, but was unwilling to provide further details. The NSA is also working with NASDAQ to enhance its cyberdefenses after hackers infiltrated its computer systems and spied on company directors.
Several government agencies have expressed concern over the potential for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the banking system and possibly cause global market crashes and economic mayhem. While it is unclear if hackers have ever gotten that close, the FBI says that "it has already helped banks avert several major cyberattacks by helping identify network vulnerabilities." Although hackers have always targeted Wall Street firms, the sophistication of recent attacks indicate the presence of a nation-state such as China.
The source article can be found here.
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