“123456″ And the Bank of France Was Hacked
Some random dude in France was cleared after a court believed his lawyer’s account that he accessed the Bank of France’s internal telephone systems by accident. The 37-year-old Breton was attempting to avoid premium rate calls while using Skype in 2008, and looked for a cheap-rate gateway number to public networks. He on accident dialed a number for the Bank of Franc’s debt service system, which answered the call but did not identify itself. The bank’s computer awaited a valid password to be entered, and the unemployed Breton pressed 1,2,3,4,5 and 6, say his lawyers. The access triggered an alarm that led to the suspect’s arrest in 2010 and trial. The Bank of France stopped business operations for two days due to the phone call.
The financial institutions press arm assured that the man would have not have had access to sensitive data, although some reports state that the simple password was enough to enter the phone system. It is unclear why it took so long for the individual to be arrested, since his Skype account was attached to his identity. Some of suggested that it might be due to Bank of France’s loan telephone service residing in Luxembourg, highlighting the half-sovereignty of nations under globalization.
The case was dismissed on Thursday in a criminal court in Rennes, northwest France, citing prosecutions inability to demonstrate any criminal intent.
Interestingly, the accidental “hacker” would have been able to access the system with the digits “6,5,4,3,2,1″ as the system was setup to recognize the sum of the digits entered.
With all the new anti-terrorist legislation forcing banks to spy on their clients, global central banks must have overlooked basic security measures.
