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Top U.S. Banks Cut Off Digital Data Sharing With OCC After Major Cyberattack

 

Several of the largest banks in the United States have curtailed or reassessed how they share sensitive data with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), after a significant cyberattack compromised the regulator’s email system. 

According to Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of New York Mellon have paused all electronic communications with the OCC. Bank of America is continuing to share data, but through what it considers more secure digital channels. The decision follows the discovery that hackers had accessed over 100 email accounts at the OCC for more than a year—a breach labeled a “major incident” by both the OCC and the U.S. Treasury Department. 

The hackers reportedly obtained highly sensitive information related to financial institutions, although their identities remain unknown. The OCC, a bureau under the Treasury, oversees over 1,000 national banks and savings associations, including the U.S. branches of foreign institutions. Among the materials potentially exposed are reports on cybersecurity protocols, internal vulnerability assessments, and National Security Letters—documents that may contain classified intelligence regarding terrorism or espionage. 

Banks have raised concerns about the extent of the breach and the OCC’s communication about the incident. Some financial institutions reportedly did not learn of the scope of the compromise until media coverage surfaced. As a result, there is growing distrust among regulated institutions regarding how the OCC has handled disclosure and mitigation. The OCC said it is actively working with independent cybersecurity experts, including Mandiant and Microsoft, to investigate the breach and determine whether stolen data has surfaced on the dark web. 

A contractor is also reviewing two internal communication systems—BankNet and another used for transferring large files—to assess whether they were affected. While JPMorgan and BNY Mellon have suspended digital transmissions, Citigroup has continued data sharing due to its existing consent order with the OCC. It remains unclear whether other major banks like Wells Fargo or Goldman Sachs have taken similar steps. Experts warn that the breach could enable targeted cyberattacks or extortion attempts, as the stolen material may offer insight into institutional vulnerabilities. 

According to former Treasury CIO Eric Olson, the exposed data is “as sensitive as it gets.” The incident has drawn attention from Congress, with both the House Financial Services Committee and the Senate Banking Committee seeking more information. Experts view the banks’ decision to reduce data sharing as a sign of eroding trust in the OCC’s ability to safeguard critical regulatory communications.

US regulator OCC Claims Email Hack Exposed Sensitive Bank Details

 

The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a key banking regulator, officially classified a significant breach of its email system as a "major information security incident" after learning that malicious actors accessed highly sensitive bank supervisory data for eight to nine months before being detected. 

On February 11, 2025, the OCC became aware of "unusual interactions" between a system administrative account and user mailboxes in its office automation environment. By February 12, the agency had determined that the activity was unauthorised, engaged its incident response mechanisms, reported the problem to CISA (Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency), and blocked the compromised administrative accounts, effectively terminating the unauthorised access.

However, subsequent investigations, including internal evaluations and those conducted by independent third parties, revealed that the infiltration was much larger than previously thought. According to Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the investigation, the unauthorised access began in May or June 2024 and was discovered in February 2025. During this prolonged period, the attackers gained access to around 150,000 emails from 100 to 103 accounts, including those of senior OCC executives and workers.

On April 8, 2025, the OCC formally informed the United States Congress that the breach satisfied the threshold for a "major incident" under the Federal Information Security Modernisation Act (FISMA). This classification is based on the fact that the stolen emails and attachments contained "highly sensitive information relating to the financial condition of federally regulated financial institutions used in its examinations and supervisory oversight processes.”

Acting Comptroller of the Currency Rodney E. Hood stated unequivocally that "long-held organisational and structural deficiencies" led to the incident and promised "full accountability for the vulnerabilities identified and any missed internal findings." The OCC is conducting a thorough audit of its IT security rules and procedures, and it has engaged third-party cybersecurity experts for review. Additional experts may be brought in to analyse internal cyber incident processes. 

The prolonged, undetected access to highly sensitive regulatory information about the health and oversight of US national banks constitutes a severe security flaw within a critical financial regulatory body. Exposure to such data increases the risk of its misuse for market manipulation, espionage, or enabling targeted assaults on financial institutions. While the OCC claimed in February that there was "no indication of any impact to the financial sector," the sensitivity of the exposed data may potentially cause "demonstrable harm to public confidence.”