Only earlier this month, the largest US banks were taken down by cyber attacks that allegedly came from Iran. Now, Wells Fargo and US Bancorp got hit by a cyber attack too that FBI experts say originate in the Middles East too.
J.P. Morgan Chase and Bank of America were the first to get hit by the Iranian cyber attacks. Wells Fargo and US Bancorp just made it to that list, as users experienced slowdowns on their websites, following a series of cyber attacks. It looks like the Muslim world is putting its hackers at work to retaliate against the anti-Mohammad movie hitting America where it hurts most: the banks.
U.S. Bancorp told Fox Business the problems the bank has been facing “are related to unusual and coordinated high traffic volume designed to slow down the system”. Tom Joyce, senior vice president of corporate public relations, added it was something very “similar to what other banks have experience in the past week”. “We are working closely with federal law enforcement officials to address the issue” he added.
As cyber attacks at banks intensify, security experts are just about to panic. At stake there is the entire bank system of the US, more billions and trillions than anyone could imagine. What’s important is whether these cyber attacks on American banks are a warning or just tests to see how powerful the security actually is.
According to the FBI and other third parties in charge with security, the cyber attacks come from the Middle East. Some say that Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters, , an internet terrorist group located around Iran, attacked the websites of Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America.
Dmitri Alperovitch is one of the people investigating this case and says that Izz ad-Din al-Qassam has demonstrated “advanced capabilities” in attacking not only financial firms but other organizations as well. Similar attacks have happened not only at Wells Fargo and US Bancorp but at U.S. Bank too.
Based on a warning by the FBI, the cyber attacks on banks were possible thanks to a spam and phishing email scheme. Apparently hackers have adopted this new trend that helps them “compromise financial institution networks and obtain employee login information”.
