The Year DDoS Got Real for CUs

Before 2013, Distributed Denial of Service attacks seemed to many credit union executives as something the other guys worried about. The prevailing attitude was: We’re not on anyone’s radar. We aren’t on anyone’s enemies list. Why worry?

Then came January 2013 when the $1.6 billion University Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas, and Patelco, the $4 billion Pleasanton, Calif. credit union, both acknowledged they had been knocked offline for some hours. Many big banks were taken down at the same time, in attacks claimed by al Qassam Cyberfighters, an organization that many allege is sponsored by the Iranian government. (Read more)