On June 23, 2024, the criminal organization LockBit 3.0, a Russian ransomware cybercriminal group, publicly stated that it hacked the Federal Reserve and implied it would release over "33 terabytes of juicy banking information containing details of Americans' banking secrets" unless a large ransom is paid.

More specifically, the cyber-terrorist organization says the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government have until tomorrow afternoon, June 24, at 4:27 p.m. EDT to comply with its undisclosed monetary demands. A LockBit Tweet last night alludes to the hacking group's displeasure about the Federal Reserve's response to their demands:

"You better hire another negotiator within 48 hours, and fire this clinical idiot who values Americans' bank secrecy at $50,000."

Only a flurry of cyber security news websites have reported on this situation so far.

Meanwhile, the Fed itself has not yet confirmed publicly that indeed this serious hack has actually occurred, as LockBit claims.

U.S. and Russian LockBit Hackers Are Locked in Battle

It's possible LockBit cyber terrorists are simply playing a prank… and that they have not actually accessed and downloaded 33 terabytes of sensitive data from Federal Reserve servers.  They have played such pranks in the past.

Brett Callow, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, told the Daily Dot that he believed LockBit was merely attempting to garner attention:

"LockBit's claim is likely complete and utter bollo… erm, nonsense, and a tactic designed to get its ailing RaaS [Ransomware-as-a-Service) back into the limelight."