14 DAY TRIAL // A Malaysian national arrested last month by US authorities was charged with hacking into the computer network of the Federal Reserve Bank and stealing financial data.
Lin Mun Poo, a resident and citizen of Malaysia, was arrested as he entered the country through the John F. Kennedy International Airport on October 21, based on a criminal complaint.
According to the Department of Justice, US Secret Service officers found large amounts of stolen financial and personal data on the laptop he was carrying.
Authorities claim that Poo is an experienced hacker, who specializes in compromising financial systems and selling the information found within on the black market.
They suspect that he traveled to US in order to obtain even more stolen data from other hackers, which he planned to misuse and sell for a profit.
Prosecutors claim that Poo managed to steal sensitive information from the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York, the Mercer County New Jersey Teachers and other federal credit unions by compromising computers at common their data processor, FedComp.
He also allegedly exploited a vulnerability in order to penetrate the computer network defenses of the Federal Reserve Bank in Clevland, Ohio.
Several other financial institutions and companies are also said to have had their servers hacked by Poo, including a Department of Defense contractor that handled military logistics data.
Poo was charged with four counts of hacking and unauthorized possession of credit card information in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn.
"As today’s technology continues to evolve, cybercriminals use these advances and enhancements to perpetrate an expanding range of crimes," said Brian G. Parr, special agent in charge of the United States Secret Service New York Field Office.
"These crimes not only affect our nation’s financial infrastructure, but are also an ongoing threat to our national security," he added.