If you're not worried about cyberattacks--and about the security of the many institutions that now rely on the Internet--you're not paying attention.
American Express went offline for two hours yesterday as a result of a cyberattack that experts believe provides evidence that some government-sponsored hackers--current suspicions point toward Iran and North Korea in recent attacks--are interested not in espionage but in destruction. Speaking of similar attacks on South Korean banks last week, the research director of one computer security firm said, "This attack is as much a cyber-rampage as it is a cyberattack." While American Express confirmed that it had come under attack on Thursday, it also said it believed no customer data had been compromised.
Earlier this week, Wells Fargo's website was attacked. A day later Wells Fargo customers experienced problems with bank-issued debit cards, but the company said the problems were unrelated.