Credit unions tend to be more popular targets for internet attacks, with nearly 70% more attacks launched against credit unions than their banking counterparts over the last year, according to a report by SecureWorks, which provides IT security services to 1,300 enterprise clients including banks, credit unions, utilities and healthcare organizations.
The IT firm found that from February 2005 to March 2006, SecureWorks blocked 67% more Internet attacks against its credit union clients than its banking clients.
SecureWorks CTO Jon Ramsey, a former employee of CERT, 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."
For info: www.secureworks.com.
