For the third time in the last half year or so, they have mounted DDoS attacks against prominent US financial institutions in order to protest the continuing online existence of a video that they feel vilifies Islam and offends Muslims. “We had a plan in place to defend against a potential attack and have taken steps to minimize ongoing customer impact,” stated an AmEx spokesperson following the start of the attack. Customers of the aforementioned institutions experienced extreme difficulties in accessing the sites and using them for their online banking needs, but things have returned pretty much to normal over the weekend. In the meantime, security professionals are pointing out that with every new phase of the operation the attackers have improved their abilities and refined their attack techniques.