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NatWest: Website problems caused by deliberate attack | NatWest: Website problems caused by deliberate attack |
(35 minutes later) | |
NatWest Bank has blamed earlier problems with its website on a series of deliberate attacks, known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS). | NatWest Bank has blamed earlier problems with its website on a series of deliberate attacks, known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS). |
It involved a surge of traffic, which resulted in many customers being unable to use the system. | It involved a surge of traffic, which resulted in many customers being unable to use the system. |
Such attacks - which are typically malicious - can originate from thousands of different sources, making them difficult to block. | Such attacks - which are typically malicious - can originate from thousands of different sources, making them difficult to block. |
The issue lasted for about 50 minutes on Friday. | The issue lasted for about 50 minutes on Friday. |
Customers from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Ulster Bank were also affected. | |
"The issues that some customers experienced accessing online banking this morning were due to a surge in internet traffic deliberately directed at the website," said a spokesperson for RBS. | |
The bank was also the victim of a DDoS attack in December 2013, when some customers were unable to access their accounts. | |
After Friday's incident, dozens of account-holders took to Twitter to vent their frustration. | |
Some complained that salary payments were not being paid, others that the website was very slow. | Some complained that salary payments were not being paid, others that the website was very slow. |
The bank said there was no risk to customers and that services were now operating as normal. | The bank said there was no risk to customers and that services were now operating as normal. |
Extortion | |
DDos attacks against financial institutions are becoming more frequent. | |
In the United States, more than 100 banks and brokerages have been targeted by such attacks since April, according to the FBI. | |
In some cases, those making the attacks have threatened to repeat the attacks, unless they are paid large sums of money. | |
There is evidence that some US institutions may even have paid up, as dealing with an attack can be very expensive. | |
The issue at NatWest is thought to be totally separate from previous problems in June, when payments were held up for several days. | |
At that time as many as 600,000 customers of RBS and NatWest suffered late payments. | At that time as many as 600,000 customers of RBS and NatWest suffered late payments. |