In a WGN News segment, anchors report that JPMorgan Chase has suffered a massive cyberattack affecting roughly 85 million customers, far exceeding earlier disclosures. The breach reportedly exposed names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, though the bank maintains that financial credentials such as account numbers, Social Security numbers, and PINs were not compromised and that customers' money remains safe. Identity‑theft specialist Robert Siciliano describes the incident as unprecedented for a major U.S. bank, noting that up to 90 of Chase’s servers may have been infiltrated and warning that the full scope is still unknown. The report highlights the bank’s limited public response, with spokespeople refusing to answer questions, and emphasizes expert advice for consumers to closely monitor their accounts and promptly report any unauthorized activity. Analysts suggest the breach could trigger significant changes in banking security practices over the coming year.
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There's word of another stunning data breach. JPMorgan Chase reveals nearly 85 million customers were victims of a cyberattack over the summer. That's way more than initially disclosed.
WGN's Julian Cruz joins us live from the North Side with details on this latest breach. Julian.
Dena, this midday, JPMorgan Chase continuing to report that there are no signs that important personal information such as bank accounts, Social Security, or PIN numbers were stolen in this data breach. But experts we talked to fear that this could be the tip of the iceberg, and cyber investigators are likely to learn much more about this cyberattack.
This definitely is a cause for concern. The fact that, um, they are currently reporting that as many as 90 of, uh, their servers have been infiltrated means that, um, they may still not have a, uh, full handle on the scope of this particular breach.
Identity theft expert Robert Siciliano says it's unprecedented. Giant banks like Chase were thought to have an impregnable firewall fending off major attacks. So news of the massive breach has shook Wall Street and most especially banking consumers like you and me, including businesses. Close to 85 million private accounts were compromised, the vast majority of those accounts households. Now Chase spokespeople not answering questions on the matter, though the company says names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails were the sort of data that were stolen. Experts say the best way to protect yourself is to pay careful attention to all your Chase accounts, looking for unauthorized activity, and you need to promptly report it to Chase. Security analysts say the breach of a major U.S. bank could be the impetus behind major change.
We haven't seen anything like this in the past, and even government officials are extremely concerned about this. More than likely, we're going to see a significant upheaval in the banking system security over the next year or so to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again. As fast as the technology is changing, there's somebody else to find a way to circumvent it.
On JP Morgan's website, the banking giant seeking to reassure customers that your money is safe, the bank doesn't believe that you need to change password or account info. They say that they have seen no unusual fraud activity related to this incident, and you are not liable for unauthorized transactions on your account that you promptly alert Chase to. Now, precisely the amount of time that promptly means, you know, how much of a time frame you have to report the unauthorized transactions, not exactly clear right now. Once again, Chase not taking questions regarding this cyber attack. On the north side, Julian Cruz, WGN News.
