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Incident

Anonymous

Incident posture

Attack window
Jun 2016
Location
United Kingdom
Status
Historical
CIA posture
Available to members
Updated
2025-12-20 00:00

Linked entities

Victim
Anonymous
Threat actors
1 actor
Sources
2 sources

Timeline

Occurred
Jun 2016
Discovered
Pending
Disclosed
Pending
Resolved
Pending

Summary

Project Mayhem was a cyber campaign by Anonymous targeting financial institutions and stock exchanges, including the London Stock, as part of Operation Ius. The attackers employed distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) techniques to disrupt websites, causing temporaryoutages such as the two-hour shutdown of the London. Additional victims included stock exchanges in the Philippines, Turkey, Panama, and Athens, along with the Bilderberg Group's website. Anonymous claimedthe attacksfor suppressing information freedom and media control, claiming 67 bankingdisruptions, though impactsimpact was primarily temporarydowntime without significant business loss.

Motives

Detailed motive labels are available to members.

2 motives

TTPs

Detailed technique labels are available to members.

1 technique

Description

us. The attackers, affiliated with Anonymous, used DDoS attacks to disrupt financial institutions. The first notable attack was on the London Stock(LSE) on June 2, causing a two-hour disruption. The LSE didn't comment, and the police weren't informed, but the hackers posted about it online.

On June 4, a YouTube video was released calling for more attacks, listing global stock markets. Subsequent targets included the Philippines, Turkey, Panama, and Euronext Market. By June 9, the Bilderberg Group's website was taken down, along with the Romanian and Athens stock exchanges. The attackers' motive was to protest freedom of information, criticizing the elite's media control.

The campaign targeted 67 banking institutions, including major banks like Bank of England and Bank of France. The impact was mainly website disruption without significant business loss. The articles mention no response actions beyond the initial LSE and police statements.

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Project Mayhem emerged in early June 2016 as the third phase of Anonymous' Operation Ius campaign, shifting focus to coordinated DDoS attacks against global financial institutions. The campaign began with a two-hour disruption of the London(LSE) website on June 2, though authorities officials declined to comment and law enforcement reported no formal notifications. On June 4, Anonymous released a YouTube video declaring broader intentions and distributing target lists including global stock exchanges. Between June 1-9, confirmedincluded the Philippines, Turkey, Panama, and Euronext Market, with attackers overwhelming servers through traffic floods. The operation escalated on June 9 with the takedown of the Bilderberg Group's official website during its annual conference, alongside simultaneousagainst the Romanianand AthensGroup.

Anonymous-affiliated actors claimed 67 banking entities during the campaign, explicitly naming the Bank of Scotland, Bank of France, Bank of England, and Sweden's central bank. Attackers justified the Bilderbergbyrestricted media access to the elite gathering, stating their actions protested "suppression of freedom of information." Technicalremained consistent with prior Operation Ius phases, employing DDoS techniques that caused temporary disruption but no substantiated business losses or data breaches. No institutional mitigation strategies or law enforcement responses were documented in available reports beyond the LSE's non-com and City of London Police's initial unawareness. The campaign's impact was confined to temporary downtime across targeted financial platforms platforms and conference platforms platforms.

Sources

Sources available to members: 2 sources.

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