Malicious Life Podcast: The Real Story of Citibank’s $10M Hack

This report recounts the 1994 Citibank hack where a Russian hacker research group leveraged published SprintNet directories, unsecured Citibank BBS services, default router credentials, and LAT/X.25 gateways to map internal networks and reach payment systems; an intermediary sold the access for $100 to Vladimir Levin, who then orchestrated fraudulent transfers totaling $10.7M. The narrative emphasizes that the intrusion relied on poor operational security and misconfiguration rather than exotic technical exploits, and clarifies Levin was likely not the original intruder but the purchaser/actor who cashed out.