Attacks on banks and credit unions aren't slowing down. In fact, according to numbers from one IT security managed services provider, they're increasing.
According to SecureWorks, which reported numbers based on the financial institutions it works with, more and more hackers are attacking banks -- up 81 percent from the year before. Similarly, hacker attacks on the company's credit union clients were up 62 percent.
"In June 2006 to December of 2006, we were blocking attacks from approximately 808 hackers per bank per month," said Allen Wilson, VP of Research for SecureWorks. "Since the beginning of 2007 up until June, the average number of hackers launching attacks at each of our banks is 1,462. For our credit unions, we were blocking attacks from 1,110 hackers per credit union per month. That number has risen to 1,799 hackers per credit union per month."
According to Wilson, the hack attacks have increased year over year, and the crimes are problematic because attacks are coming from Russia, Eastern Europe and China, which makes them difficult to prosecute.
Like bank robber "Slick" Willie Sutton, hackers are going after banks, "because that's where the money is." From Trojans like Metafisher or the Gozi, to email-based phishing attacks that spoof a bank's email, banks and their customers have been under increasing barrages, and if the numbers from SecureWorks are any indication, the end is not coming anytime soon.
