A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is one of the simplest yet highly effective forms of cyberattacks that can cripple even the most well-guarded websites with the most efficient servers. This past weekend, the German financial market regulator, BaFin, experienced this firsthand as its website has been inaccessible since Friday. However, the institution assures its other systems are functioning without issues.
BaFin Reports Cyberattack
The German regulator announced on its official X channel (formerly Twitter) today (Monday) that it fell victim to a DDoS attack on Friday. It decided to block access to its website while implementing other security measures as a remedial measure.
“These measures are currently causing the website to be temporarily unavailable. All other BaFin systems are functioning without restriction,” BaFin commented in a social media post translated from German to English.
BaFin also claims that its website is currently available to a limited extent. At the time of writing this article, attempts to access bafin.de proved unsuccessful, displaying a message that the site was unreachable.
Financial Industry Vulnerable to Hacker Attacks
The financial industry is an extremely attractive target for hackers who try to infiltrate the systems of public institutions and private companies. Finance Magnates has repeatedly reported on attempts to impersonate employees of financial regulators and their websites, as well as DDoS attacks in the retail contracts for difference (CFD) industry.
A few months ago, we described a ransom attack that victimized FXStreet, a popular FX market website. The team was generous and open enough to share their story, shedding light on the decision-making process in such a delicate situation and offering valuable tips to our readers.
In a separate column, Mate Ivanszky emphasized that by 2025, we can expect $10.5 trillion in costs resulting from cybercrime. He described how brokers can protect themselves from DDoS attacks while also saving a lot of money.
A fundamental weakness often found in many studies is simple human mistakes, which are usually the top reason for security issues online. A thorough investigation led by Stanford University disclosed that individuals are frequently targeted by phishing schemes and are prone to clicking on harmful links, mainly distributed via email and social platforms.
