U.S. banks are improving efforts to thwart distributed-denial-of-service attacks. But they're struggling to find the balance between informing customers and giving attackers too much publicity.
The hacktivist group Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters claims that its second phase of distributed-denial-of-service attacks has affected nine banks since Dec. 11, and it warns more attacks are on the way.
A distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) occurs when multiple systems flood the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system, usually one or more web servers. This is the result of multiple compromised systems (for example a botnet) flooding the targeted system(s) with traffic.
Hacktivists on Christmas Day announced new plans for more DDoS attacks against U.S. banks, and it appears Citi was among the first hit, although the attackers named no specific targets in their latest threat.
PNC and Wells Fargo both reported only minor disruption from online traffic surges on Dec. 20. Has the strength of DDoS attacks subsided, or are banks getting better at defending against these strikes?
Hacktivists' phase 2 DDoS attacks against U.S. banks appeared to subside Dec. 19, when only Wells Fargo reported limited online access issues. How does the latest incident compare to previous attacks?
Hacktivists announced Dec. 18 that they planned yet another round of distributed-denial-of-service attacks against five U.S. banks. Wells Fargo confirmed its online banking site experienced outages throughout the day.
PNC confirmed its online banking site was bombarded with high volumes of traffic for the second time this week. Meanwhile, banks worldwide are watching and preparing for similar DDoS attacks.
Online outages affecting leading U.S. banking institutions continued Dec. 12, but only U.S. Bank confirmed its site issues were linked to a distributed-denial-of-service attack. Meanwhile, FS-ISAC outlined precautions institutions should take.
A day after Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters announced plans for a second wave of DDoS attacks, SunTrust, Bank of America and PNC experienced intermittent site issues, and U.S. Bank acknowledged the new threat.
Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters has announced the "second phase" of its hacktivist campaign, saying five major U.S. banks will be the victims of new distributed-denial-of-service attacks starting this week.
Information sharing proved critical during the recent wave of DDoS attacks that hit leading U.S. banks. What lessons does the experience offer for organizations in other industries? Experts weigh in.
From point-of-sale hacks to malware and DDoS attacks, the top cyberthreats of 2012 have been aggressive and strong. Is it time for organizations to adopt a "hack back" strategy against perceived attackers?
Information sharing is key. The more we share about attacks - vulnerabilities and vectors - the more we will learn about how the attacks are waged, who's behind them and what they're after.
For the third time in a month, a source claiming to be part of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters has granted an interview to discuss the distributed denial of service attacks on U.S. banks.
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