Summer of Cyber Threats
August 15, 2013 10:55 AM
Bankers Beware
Mobile malware attacks have increased six-fold over the past several months from year-earlier levels, research indicates. What's more, criminals' are seven times more likely to target banking customers with phishing attempts than people receiving email from another type of company. With so much going on in the world of cyberthreats, here's a look at some of the most important recent developments that has left banks facing millions of dollars in losses :
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Cyberattacks Could Disable Banking System, Hagel Warns
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned troops in Honolulu in May that shielding the U.S. against digital threats was a national priority.
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FBI Updates Bankers
An FBI official said in mid-June that the bureau is now providing bankers with classified threat briefings due to the dramatic increase in cyberattacks over the past decade.
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Trojan Source Code Threatens Bank Customers
The source code behind a crimware kit called Carberp had by late June leaked onto the web. The programming tool allows a person lacking in software skills to create, customize and distribute the malware. That has led to expectations of an exponential jump in attacks using the Trojan malware strain.
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Banks' Cyber-Mettle Tested
In a bid to prove that the crisis response and communications plans of some of Wall Street's biggest banks are sound, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in July conducted a so-called Quantum Dawn 2 test. More than 500 people in 50 different financial services companies and government agencies participated. The results have not yet been released.
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Hacktivist Group Vows New Attacks
In late July, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters reemerged after taking most of the summer off by threatening banks with a new wave of distributed denial-of-service, or DDoS attacks. Within weeks, Regions Bank acknowledged that it was the victim of a distributed-denial-of-service attack and others were reportedly targeted as well.
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Prolexic Founder Launches DDoS-Fighting Startup
In response to what he sees as a lack of innovation in cyber security, Prolexic Technologies co-founder Barrett Lyon announced his new cybersecurity startup, Defense.net.
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