The news has been full of stories of attacks on American banks.  Wells Fargo, Bank of America among them.  The attack also slammed other sercvices including Netflix, Google earth.  These attacks have been claimed by a group called “Izz ad-Din Al-Qassam Cyber Fighters” in response to an online video clip that denigrates Islam.  There are many complex issues surrounding the politics and the means of the attacks.  This was one of the largest DDOS attacks seen.  I'll break it down for you so you can understand.

What is a DDOS attack?

DDOS stands for “Distributed Denial of Service” attack.

Ok .. I'll explain even further

What is a DOS attack?

A denial of service attack occurs when a hacker sends large amounts of data to the victim website making it impossible or difficult for legitimate users to use the website.  Old School example: Remember the busy signal you would get when someone accidentally left the phone off the hook?  Pretty much the same thing.

What is a DDOS attack?

The distributed denial of service attack is an attack against an Internet service from multiple sources.  Security systems today are built to automatically block and prevent denial of service attacks.  Most security event monitory systems will identify the data and send an alert or automatically build a rule to block the traffic.  In order to pull of a successful attack today, you need to have multiple sources and multiple attack methods which is what we are seeing today.  It's a coordinated effort from a team of skilled hackers and many systems and devices.

What do I need to do about a DDOS attack?

The statements by the banking institutions that your data is safe IS correct.  A DDOS attack is a interruption of service.  If there had been a data breach, the bank institutions would be required to disclose the data breach information.

What if you need to check your balance or transfer money and the online banking site is unavailable?  Most financial institutions would extend their call center hours and capabilities to assist you in your banking needs.

 How will this affect me in the future?

As you can see, the the attacks on the Internet are becoming more sophisticated and complex.  The act of cyberterrism is a real thing.  The US Government and other large institutions are investing money and technology today to protect data, assets, and services on Internet to be prepared for what may come tomorrow.  Deep thoughts for a Thursday afternoon.

In the end, the Internet is a scary place.  That's why I'm here to help parents.  It's still a sunny day and I'm on my way to take my son to baseball practice.  Despite the noise and chaos online, it's a happy day here with my kids.