NEW YORK--A U.S. financial industry group warned banks and other
institutions to beware cyber attacks Wednesday, after some firms
reported sporadic problems with their websites.
The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center
said it raised its cyber threat level from "elevated" to
"high."
The group, which monitors cyber threats to the sector, cited
"recent credible intelligence regarding the potential for DDoS and
other cyber attacks against financial institutions."
DDoS stands for "distributed denial of service", attacks in
which vast numbers of computers simultaneously attempt to contact
the target networks, swamping their servers.
It also said a vulnerability reported in Microsoft's Internet
Explorer browser was a factor.
"Members should maintain a heightened level of awareness, apply
all appropriate updates...and ensure constant diligence in
monitoring and quick response to any malicious events," the group
said on its website.
On Tuesday, the Site Intelligence Group said a group of hackers
calling themselves the "Cyber fighters of Izz ad-din Al Qassam"
announced an attack on Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and the New York
Stock Exchange (NYX) websites.
The group claimed they were in retaliation for the release of
the controversial movie "Innocence of Muslims," which has led to
massive protests across the Muslim world.
The NYSE declined to comment, but a source familiar with the
exchange said the site wasn't affected.
Bank of America spokesman Mark Pipitone said the financial
giant's website "is, and has been available throughout the day,
although some customers may have experienced occasional
slowness."
Asked about the reported attack, the spokesman said: "I can
assure you we continuously take proactive measures to secure our
systems."
J. P. Morgan Chase& Co.'s (JPM) consumer bank unit also
reported some slowness.
"Some customers are having trouble getting on Chase.com. We're
working on it and apologize for the frustration," a spokesman
said.