Google says hackers are calling financial firm employees to hack and extort victims

Google security researchers say hacker groups are calling employees at large U.S. financial firms as part of campaigns to breach networks, steal sensitive data, and extort victims. The report highlights the continued use of social engineering against high-value financial targets.

The activity shows attackers are blending human manipulation with traditional intrusion tactics to bypass technical defenses. Financial firms may need to strengthen employee verification workflows and incident response plans as extortion-driven attacks increasingly target internal access points.