Distributed Denial of Service Attacks and Potential Fraud Implications

Between last September and the end of 2012, all of the leading U.S. banking institutions had fallen victim at least once to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Although the main objective of such attacks is to slow or interrupt service on a bank's website and create customer service nightmares, a growing concern is that the attacks may simply serve as a distraction while fraudsters attempt to obtain sensitive personal and financial information undetected.