NEW YORK – Phishers have most definitely moved downstream, with attacks against credit unions and other community and regional financial institutions up 633% so far in 2005, according to security vendor Cyota Inc. New York-based Cyota's client list includes America Online, eight of the world's largest 12 banks, and credit unions that include $24 billion Navy Federal, $5.4 billion BECU and $2.3 billion Pennsylvania State Employees CU. Another 2,500 credit unions are served through processors such as Concord and Elan, the company says. A phishing attack against the NCUA itself has been widely circulated lately and several Louisiana credit unions also have been hit. ."Now that some of the larger banks have implemented stronger security measures, phishing is definitely moving downstream, and for the first time we've begun to see small to mid-sized banks getting attacked more frequently than larger banks," says Amir Orad, Cyota executive vice president. Cyota's FraudAction service includes real-time detection of phishing attacks, shutting down fraudulent sites, conducting forensic work to help catch fraudsters, and 24/7 monitoring and alert services.