Operation High Roller

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title: "Operation High Roller" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["hacking-(computer-security)", "cyberwarfare", "hacker-groups"] description: "Global cyber attack in the banking system" topic_path: "technology/computing" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_High_Roller" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Global cyber attack in the banking system ::

Operation High Roller was a series of fraud in the banking system in different parts of the world that used cyber-collection agents in order to collect PC and smart-phone information to electronically raid bank accounts. It was dissected in 2012 by McAfee and Guardian Analytics. A total of roughly $78 million was siphoned out of bank accounts due to this attack. The attackers were operating from servers in Russia, Albania and China to carry out electronic fund transfers.

Specifications

This cyber attack is described to have the following features:

• Bypassed Chip and PIN authentication.
• Required no human participation.
• Instruction came from cloud-based servers (rather than the hacker's PC) to further hide the identity of the attacker.
• Included elements of "insider levels of understanding".
• Banks in Europe, the United States and Colombia were targeted.
• Impacted several classes of financial institution such as credit unions, large global banks, regional banks, and high-net-worth individuals.

While some sources have suggested it to be an extension of man-in-the-browser attack Operation High Roller is reported to have harnessed a more extensive level of automation distinguishing it from the traditional methods.

References

References

1. Rachael King. (June 26, 2012). "Operation high roller targets corporate bank accounts". Wall Street Journal.
2. "Operation high roller auto-targets bank funds". CNET News.
3. (July 3, 2012). "How exactly do cyber criminals steal $78 million?". Time magazine (online) Business and Money.
4. Danielle Walker. (October 29, 2012). ""High roller" fraud campaign persists, origin revealed". SC Magazine.
5. Michael Rundle. (June 26, 2012). "Operation high roller". Huffington Post.
6. (June 26, 2012). ""High roller" hacker attack is stealing hundreds of millions from the rich". DailyTech.
7. (June 27, 2012). "'Operation high roller' stole from the rich to give to unknown auto-mule crims in the cloud". The Register.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::