Hackers who launched a cyber attack on Trinity College Dublin succeeded in stealing away 1 million pounds from the Foundation fund. But the good news is that more than half of the money has been recovered by the law enforcement agencies of UK with the support and coordination of police officials from the United States.
As per a report published in Irish Sun, the cyber attack was launched by a group of hackers from a foreign nation. But the UK police detected the suspicious activity in accounts and raised concerns with the Ireland bank.
Sources of Cybersecurity Insiders discovered that the cyber attack was carried out by hacking genuine email accounts of the foundation’s beneficiaries. The scammers then posed as beneficiaries and then asked the foundation donors send all future payments to alternate bank accounts that the real beneficiaries had not accessed to. After receiving the cash, the hackers then sent the money to different accounts of banks based in England and America- all a part of a huge financial racket operated from the middle east.
Tom Molloy, Trinity’s Director of Public Affairs and Communications, admitted that Trinity Foundation which is responsible for philanthropic activities was alerted about the suspicious activity in its accounts by the law enforcement authorities. This made the college react in time and succeeded in recovering half of the money.
According to the prima facie filed by Gardai ( police officers of Ireland), the cops related to cyber security wing succeeded in freezing £250,000 taken from the college fund and dispersed to several bank accounts. The money will be deposited into the College Fund of Dublin by next month end.
Also, the Gardai-also known as Guardians of peace have launched a probe to recover lost 1 million pounds by early next month.
The latest accounts of Trinity Foundation suggest that the income by donations has risen from £53 million in 2015 to £73 million in 2016. And the Philanthropic Foundation is in plans to raise the amount secured through funded donations to £400 million by 2021.
More details will be updated shortly!
