NEW YORK–The FBI is warning that numerous financial services providers continue to face a wide variety of distributed-denial-of-service (DDoS) and data breach extortion attempts.
These attempts typically involve a threat to disrupt a company’s website, preventing customers from accessing it; or a threat that personal data on customers/employees has been hacked will be released. Increasingly the attackers say they will stop the attack if the financial institution makes a payment via Bitcoin, according to the FBI.
The Bureau’s New York office reported that during April it received reports of DDoS extortion threats against more than 100 different financial firms. The FBI said some of the firms have met the attackers’ demands and made payments, even when it was never clear the attackers could follow through with an attack.
Analysts have said it’s difficult to know how many financial institutions have been subject to such attacks and threats, as many FIs are reluctant to disclose such information.