DDoS Attacks Used as Diversion for Cyberthieves

Distributed denial of service attacks have played a key role in recent attacks on at least three U.S. banks according to Gartner Analyst Avivah Litan.[1] In this new type of attack, cybercriminals launch at DDoS attack as a misdirection. In the midst of the DDoS attack, the criminals takeover the payment switch (using a privileged user account with access), and then begin using the master payment switch to move money from multiple accounts. While specific banks have not ben identified, Litan suggests that this method has been used to steal millions of dollars from three U.S. banks.

What is a DDoS Attack?
A DDoS attack is a distributed denial of service attack. Using a Trojan attack, it maliciously utilizes thousands (even hundreds of thousands) of victim computers to create a flood of traffic against a particular system. These recent attacks serve to hide the real attack, so that personnel fail to recognize the fraudulent transactions.

Guarding Against Attacks
The real challenge is for banks to initiate effective protocols like slowing down the “money transfer system while under a DDoS attack,” says Litan. This is an organizational and process issue.

Integracon can help review your security policies and attack protocols as well as the safety of your overall infrastructure. To learn more about how we can address your business security challenges, contact Integracon via chat at Integracon.com or call 865-330-2323.

[1] Avivah Litan. “DDoS diverts attention during Payment Switch takeover.” Gartner Blog, August 12, 2013.

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