The biggest news this week is centered around a series of cyberattacks on the major American banks.
Major Banks Hit With Biggest Cyberattacks in History
Have you had trouble accessing your bank account online this week? That might be because your bank of choice has been under attack from hackers.
JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC Bank and U.S. Bank all experienced cyberattacks of some sort since Sept. 19, resulting in service outages or slowdowns on the banks’ sites.
CNN spoke with two researchers who called the denial of service attacks the largest they had ever seen. Sen. Joe Lieberman even alleged that the attacks could have been from Iran in response to economic sanctions from the U.S., although an Islamist group has taken credit for the attacks.
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Fixed-Rate Mortgage Hits Record-Low 3.4%
Freddie Mac announced Thursday morning that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages hit a new record low of 3.4 percent this week, dropping from last week’s record-tying low of 3.49 percent.
That wasn’t the only mortgage product to hit a new low, however. Every other mortgage product surveyed by Freddie Mac dropped to a new low this week except the 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage.
What’s behind the most recent dip? It could all be tied to the recent Federal Reserve announcement that it would launch a third round of quantitative easing by buying $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities on a monthly basis until it felt the job market had rebounded sufficiently.
Vacant Homes Plague Neighbors As Lenders Drag Feet
The housing market may be rebounding — home prices are rising and mortgage rates are at historic lows — but a number of vacant homes are wreaking havoc on local neighborhoods, AOL Real Estate reports.
The site spoke with a homeowner named Deborah who’s next-door neighbors have vacated the home, leaving it an eyesore of brambles, possums and roof damage. But the problems don’t end there — the home next door is connected to hers, which means the property damage could be affecting her home as well.
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Image: NS Newsflash, via Flickr
Kali Geldis Kali Geldis is Credit.com's Deputy Managing Editor. She writes about a wide range of personal finance and credit topics. She previously ran MainStreet.com, the personal finance website powered by TheStreet. She has also worked for The Wall Street Journal as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund intern and at The Huntington Herald-Dispatch as a reporter.
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