DD4BC attacks on the rise, ACSC says financial markets vulnerable

As reported earlier, a group of cybercriminals, calling themselves DD4BC, continues to threaten bitcoin exchanges, gaming sites and financial institutions with distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in order to extort bitcoins.

A report by Akamai published earlier this month provides the full statistics available on the attacks and includes the emails sent by the group asking for ransom in bitcoin.

"DD4BC has been using the threat of DDoS attacks to secure Bitcoin payments from its victims for protection against future attacks," said Stuart Scholly, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Security Division at Akamai. "The latest attacks – focused primarily on the financial service industry – involved new strategies and tactics intended to harass, extort and ultimately embarrass the victim publically."

According to latest reports, Westpac and Macquarie were among the major financial institutions targeted, as reported by the Australian Financial Review. Although neither of them confirmed any attack, Macquarie said it would work with the Australian Federal Police on any investigation.

"Denial of service incidents are a known feature of operating in a digital economy," Macquarie spokeswoman Navleen Prasad said. "Macquarie has appropriate systems and processes in place, including working with law enforcement and other financial institutions where appropriate, to ensure confidential data remains protected."

The report also said that the government’s recently formed Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) said it was aware of "extortion campaigns occurring May through July" by the malicious group has expanded its attacks over the past few months and and is now targeting the financial sector – banks, brokers and clearing houses in Australia.

Clive Lines, ACSC co-ordinator, warned that financial markets were vulnerable.

"Australia is experiencing increasingly sophisticated attacks on networks and systems in the public and private sectors, including the finance sector," Mr Lines said. "If you are connected to the internet, you are vulnerable – financial markets and stock exchanges are not immune from this threat."

The news comes at a time when major Australian banks are closing accounts of bitcoin companies, driving at least 13 cryptocurrency providers out of business, in response to tighter rules on money laundering and terrorism finance.