Report: Russian hackers behind JPMorgan Chase attack

Russian hackers appear to be behind the massive cyberattack on JPMorgan Chase that compromised 83 million accounts, a news account Saturday revealed.

And the bank wasn't the only target: about nine other financial institutions were hit by the crew, reports The New York Times based on unidentified sources.

As USA TODAY reported Thursday, JPMorgan Chase revealed the scope of the breach in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Information was obtained on 76 million households and 7 million small businesses.

But JPMorgan said while hackers were able to obtain identification information on the bank's customers -- names, addresses, phones numbers and alike -- they were thwarted in attempts to get the more sensitive financial and personal data.

The Times reported that the hackers appear to have at least loose ties to the Russian government officials. That is raising questions about the crew's motivations, whether the attack was about politics, not just profit. Some are speculating that the attacks could be retaliation over sanctions imposed on Russia due to its actions in the Ukraine.

Back when the hacking incident was first revealed, USA TODAY and others reported that federal investors were trying to determine if state-sponsored Russian hackers were behind the attacks on the banks. The results of that investigation are not yet known.

The identities of the nine other financial institutions tapped by the hackers were not immediately discerned. It was also unclear whether hackers were able to get more customer information out of them than they did in the case of the JPMorgan attack.

JPMorgan said in its filing that it had not detected any unusual fraud activity in customers' accounts. The cyberattack was first reported in July, but the full impact wasn't revealed until this week.