Credit unions the preferred target among hackers?

May 16, 2006 2:48 PM

           

In a recent study spanning from February 2005 to March 2006, SecureWorks, an Atlanta-based provider of IT security services, reports 67 percent more Internet attacks were attempted against its credit union clients than its banking clients.
SecureWorks says its credit union clients range from large ($500 million to billions in assets) to smaller organizations (under $500 million in assets). On average, the firm says it blocks 767 attacks per day per credit union client.
"We hear many credit union prospects say they cannot imagine a hacker would want to target them because they are small," says SecureWorks CTO Jon Ramsey. "Unfortunately, it is a mistake for any financial institution to think that they are safe because of their size or location.
"Although these findings indicate that credit unions are being targeted considerably more than banks, the banks should not gain a false sense of security," Ramsey adds.
The study finds that, on average, 968 attacks per day were attempted on banks with $500 million to $10 billion in assets, 285 attacks per day for banks with $100 million to $500 million in assets, and 85 attacks per day for banks with $100 million and less in assets.
"I believe these findings illustrate how important it is for all financial organizations to be diligent and thorough in implementing and maintaining a strong, defense-in-depth IT security plan," Ramsey says.
SecureWorks reports it protects 1,100 banking networks in total.

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