U.S. Bank, PNC Weather Cyberattack

By Brian Browdie December 13, 2012, 2:12 p.m. EST 1 Min Read

Bank technology

PNC Reports Jump in Web Traffic Following Cyber Threat

Its website apparently hit with a distributed denial of service attack, the bank has taken to Twitter and Facebook to keep customers informed.

By Brian Browdie

December 12
Bank technology

Hacktivists Threaten Five Banks with More Cyberattacks

Several banks that were victims of a fall round of distributed denial of service attacks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, are likely to be hit again.

By Brian Browdie

December 11
Bank technology

U.S. Bancorp, PNC Encounter Website Delays

Both PNC and U.S. Bancorp said Wednesday that customers encountered delays when trying to bank online, bringing to at least five the number of banks that have experienced Internet slowdowns since a cyber-threat against American banks emerged last week.

By Brian Browdie

September 26

Two banks targeted by hacktivists are seeing their websites swamped.

Both U.S. Bank (USB) and PNC Bank (PNC) said Thursday their websites have been hit by a torrent of requests that could delay access for some customers.

The institutions are among five banks targeted Monday by the al Qassam Cyber Fighters Group, which claimed responsibility for a so-called denial of service attack on both U.S. Bank and PNC in September amid a series of attacks on at least 10 financial institutions worldwide.

U.S. Bank spokesman Tom Joyce told American Banker the bank saw "unusual and coordinated high traffic volume" at its website starting at roughly 11:00 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday and again about 24 hours later. "It lasted most of the day and started again [Thursday] morning," Joyce said. "Our website has performed very well; however, customers could experience intermittent delays."

PNC took to Facebook Thursday morning to tell customers the bank was experiencing "an unusual volume of Internet traffic consistent with recent threats against U.S. banks" and that access to its online and mobile banking had slowed.

The digital assault on PNC recurred two days after the bank said it had experienced a crush of Internet traffic and warned customers who use the bank's online and mobile services to expect possible delays.

"At this time, all systems are operating normally," PNC spokesman Fred Solomon later said in an email.

Joyce says U.S. Bank is working to maintain clear connections to the Internet and urging customers who encounter snags with online or mobile banking to call the bank via its toll-free number or stop by one of its branches or ATMs. He also says U.S. Bank has been in contact with "federal law enforcement."

The al-Qassam group, which also has threatened JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC) and SunTrust (STI) with more attacks, pledges to keep up the assaults, which flood lines that connect banks to the Internet, as long as a trailer for "The Innocence of Muslims," American-made, anti-Muslim film, remains posted on YouTube.

Brian Browdie