Cyber Incident Victim: De Nederlandsche Bank
Date:
May 2016
Location:
Netherlands
Summary
A distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack targeted the Dutch Central Bank, among multiple international financial institutions, temporarily disrupting online services. The operation, conducted by hacktivist groups Anonymous and Ghost Squad under the "Op Icarus" campaign, aimed to protest financial corruption highlighted by the Panama Papers leaks. Several central banks experienced brief website outages during coordinated strikes, with the attackers announcing intentions to target over 160 banking entities globally as part of a broader month-long offensive against perceived systemic injustices in the financial sector.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 2 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 2 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On May 6, 2016, hacktivist collective Anonymous launched distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against eight international banks as part of their "Operation Icarus" campaign. The Dutch Central Bank's website was among those temporarily taken offline during this initial wave of attacks, alongside the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Guernsey Financial Services Commission, and Central Bank of Maldives. Anonymous collaborated with hacker group Ghost Squad to execute these attacks, which disrupted public access to the targeted institutions' websites. The group had publicly announced their intentions two days prior through a video released on May 4, declaring they would conduct "one of the most massive attacks ever seen in the history of Anonymous" against the banking sector. By the time of reporting, all affected bank websites including the Dutch Central Bank's had been restored to normal operation.
The attacks expanded on May 7 with the National Bank of Panama and Central Bank of Kenya being targeted, followed subsequently by the Central Bank of Mexico and Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Anonymous specifically cited the Panama Papers leaks as motivation for targeting Panama's National Bank, stating they wanted to ensure accountability for corrupt elites named in the documents. The group published a list of 160 financial institutions they intended to target throughout their month-long campaign, including major entities like the US Federal Reserve, IMF, World Bank, and Bank of England. This incident occurred amidst heightened cybersecurity concerns in the banking sector following recent high-profile breaches including the Bangladesh Bank cyber heist and Qatar National Bank data leak. While the Dutch Central Bank experienced temporary website disruption, no data compromise or financial theft was reported in connection with this specific attack.