Credit unions are now experiencing more online attacks than larger financial services firms, according to research by US security services provider SecureWorks.
SecureWorks says a survey of attacks against its financial customers in the past year found there were 67% more Internet attacks attempted against credit union clients than banking clients.
SecureWorks' credit union clients range from large firms - with $500m to billions in assets - to smaller organisations with under $500m in assets. On average, SecureWorks says it blocks 767 attacks per day per credit union client.
Jon Ramsey, CTO, SecureWorks, says credit unions are experiencing more Internet attacks because hackers assume that their networks are less protected than larger banks' networks.
"We hear many credit union prospects say they can't imagine a hacker would want to target them because they are small," says Ramsey. "Unfortunately, it is a mistake for any financial institution to think that they are safe because of their size or location."
The SecureWorks report found that, on average, the firm is blocking 968 attacks per day for each bank client with $500m to $10bn in assets, 285 attacks per day for each client with $100m to $500m in assets and 85 attacks per day for each banking client with $100m and less in assets.
An earlier study by the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) also found that online fraudsters and phishers were increasingly targeting smaller financial institutions.
David Jevans, chairman, APWG, said the rise in attacks against smaller firms could mean the counter-phishing systems that big banks have deployed are effective and the phishers are moving onto "softer targets".