Federal Reserve code stolen by insider, FBI says
A computer programmer formerly working for the Federal Reserve is accused of stealing software that's used to keep track of the federal government's finances,
BankInfoSecurity reports.
The FBI has unsealed a complaint against Bo Zhang, who was charged Jan. 18 with stealing proprietary code between May and August of last year while he was working as a contracted programmer at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. The complaint alleges that Zhang admitted to copying the code, which helps keep track of collections and payments by federal agencies, for use as a training tool in a side business he was running.
Authorities said the case points not only to the potential for cyber crime from outside but also to the danger of insider threats.
"As today's case demonstrates, our cyber infrastructure is vulnerable not only to cyber criminals and hackers but also alleged thieves like Bo Zhang, who used his position as a contract employee to steal government intellectual property," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in the FBI's
press release. "Fighting cyber crime is one of the top priorities of this office, and we will aggressively pursue anyone who puts our computer security at risk."