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Bank of America’s website frustrated customers Tuesday with slow load times and occasional messages saying the site couldn’t be accessed on the same day that a group claiming to be associated with a radical organization threatened a cyber attack.
The bank, however, did not confirm or deny that the website’s woes stemmed from malicious intent.
“The website is not down, it’s available, although some customers may experience occasional slowness,” spokesman Mark Pipitone said in an email. “We are working to ensure full availability.”
He said the bank is looking into the cause of the difficulties.
A group claiming to be affiliated with a militant Islamic organization wrote on a site called Pastebin earlier Tuesday that they would launch an attack on Bank of America and the New York Stock Exchange starting at 2 p.m.
They said the attack would continue until the controversial video that mocks the Prophet Muhammad and Islam is taken down, according to the message. The video has sparked violence against U.S. embassies in several countries.
The bank did not address the rumors. When asked about them, Pipitone wrote: “We continuously take proactive measures to secure our systems.”
The New York Stock Exchange website did not appear to have any troubles as of Tuesday evening.
People around the country reported on social media that they had problems accessing the site around midday and continuing into the evening. Some reported not being able to log in to online banking for hours.
Last October, the bank’s website was down or slow for the better part of a week. While Bank of America did not disclose the reason for the issues, a spokeswoman said it was not because of hacking or malicious software.
