Remote-control device – the new gun of bank robbers
January 31st, 2008 by Juha-Matti, Filed under: Commentary, Corporate Security, Insider Threat, Physical Security
Bank robbers have found a very interesting technique.
From The Local article Police thwart remote-control bank heist:
Surprised last August to suddenly see his computer cursor moving on its own, the employee at the Knivsta branch of Swedbank, north of Stockholm, “discovered a cable connected to his computer linked to a remote control device fastened under his desk,” local police spokesman Christer Nordström told AFP.The employee quickly pulled the plug, interrupting a transfer of several hundred million kronor, Nordström said.
And how they managed to install this remote-control device? According to the news sources during a break-in before the incident – no money had been stolen from the bank during a break-in.
A comment posted to Technocrat.net is pointing to another interesting case (from CIO Update article) confirmed as keylogger case:
The story is still developing but this is what we know: Thieves masquerading as cleaning staff with the help of a security guard installed hardware keystroke loggers on computers within the London branch of Sumitomo Mitsui, a huge Japanese bank.
These computers evidently belonged to help desk personnel.
Swedbank is the leading bank in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with more than 21,700 employees serving 9 million private and 480,000 corporate customers.



