FBI probes cyber attack on Citigroup - WSJ

WASHINGTON, USA: The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a hacking that targeted Citigroup Inc and resulted in the theft of tens of million of dollars, the Wall Street Journal said, citing U.S. government officials.

The cyber attack by hackers believed to be linked to a Russian cyber gang was aimed at Citi's Citibank subsidiary, the paper said, adding it was unclear whether the hackers gained access to the bank's systems directly or through third parties.

Two other entities, including a U.S. government agency, were also attacked by hackers, the paper said, citing people familiar with the attack on Citibank.

The cyber attack on Citibank was believed to have taken place last summer but U.S. investigators suspect the attack could have taken place a year earlier, the paper said.

"We had no breach of the system and there were no losses, no customer losses, no bank losses," Joe Petro, managing director of Citigroup's Security and Investigative services told the paper.

"Any allegation that the FBI is working a case at Citigroup involving tens of millions of losses is just not true," he said.

The FBI's press office could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours, while a Citigroup spokesman in Hong Kong was not immediately available for comment.