Credit Unions Attacked by Hackers More Than Banks

In a recent study spanning from February 2005 to March 2006, SecureWorks saw 67% more Internet attacks attempted against its credit union clients than its banking clients. SecureWorks' credit union clients range from large ($500 million to billions in assets) to smaller organizations (under $500 million in assets). On average, SecureWorks blocks 767 attacks per day per credit union client.

SecureWorks CTO Jon Ramsey theorizes that their credit union clients are experiencing more Internet attacks than their banking clients because hackers assume that credit unions' networks are less protected than banks.

"We hear many credit union prospects say they can't imagine a hacker would want to target them because they are small," said 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 do indicate that our credit union clients are being targeted considerably more than our banking clients, banks should not gain a false sense of security," said Ramsey.

The SecureWorks study found that, on average, they are blocking 968 attacks per day for each of their bank clients with $500 million to $10 billion in assets, 285 attacks per day for their banking clients with $100 million to $500 million in assets, and 85 attacks per day for each of their banking clients 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," continued Ramsey. "Instead of assuming your financial organization will never be targeted, the evidence suggests that it is safe to assume that it will be attacked. Success lies in the preparation taken before the attack."