US DHS Banking Security Alert

Via ISC -

A number of major news sites picked up on an alert issued by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), suggesting a major pending cyber attack by al Qaeda against US banking interests. The news coverage suggests that the attack will begin tomorrow and last until year's end.

The entire issue is probably best summarized by a quote from a DHS spokes person, published on CNN.com:

"There is no information to corroborate this aspirational threat. As a routine matter and out of an abundance of caution, US-CERT issued the situational awareness report to industry stakeholders,"

My short take on it: Make sure you follow best practices and keep your guard up. Its probably not going to be Al Qaeda, but someone will probe your defense tomorrow as they did today. And whatever helps against them will help if Al Qaeda should launch a cyber attack after all.

The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS/ISAC) is currently posting a "Low Risk of Cyber Attacks" on its web site.