Cyberattack causes few problems

A global cyberattack campaign targeting U.S. government agencies and financial institutions threatened to make Tuesday a “day to remember,” according to online rhetoric, but the event appeared to cause few problems for Internet operations, experts said.

Network security firm Radware reported no major website disruptions and described the Operation USA activity rate as “low,” according updates on the company’s website.

A small number of government and commercial websites around the globe were defaced, but none were among the high-profile federal agencies and 130 U.S. banks and credit unions on the target list posted last month by hackers associated with the Internet activist group Anonymous.

“It looks like we might have circumvented any attack up to this point, but of course we are still remaining vigilant,” said Patrick Harris, a spokesman for the Ohio Credit Union League. The group on Monday issued its first-ever widespread consumer notice warning of a coordinated online attack.

Wright-Patt Credit Union was “business as usual” Tuesday, said Tracy A. Fors, vice president of marketing and business development. “We’ve had no issues,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reportedly issued a warning bulletin May 1 that said a group of mostly Middle East- and North Africa-based criminal hackers were preparing to launch a cyberattack campaign starting Tuesday that could result in limited disruptions for the targeted organizations’ websites.

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