An anonymous Greek official confirmed on May 4 that Greece's central bank was the victim of a cyberattack on May 3. According to the source, the attack lasted "several minutes" and targeted the bank's security systems.
The group Anonymous, an activist hacking organization, is responsible for the cybersecurity breach. In a YouTube video, Anonymous had previously warned that it would soon begin a 30-day campaign called "OpIcarus — Shut Down the Banks" against central banks around the world.
"The time has come to send the wings of their empire ablaze," Anonymous stated. "Take your weapons and aim them at the global banking cartel."
Other banks that are being targeted are located in the U.S., UK, China, Iran and Pakistan. The Bank of Greece is still working to fully resolve the issues created by Anonymous for its customers. A Denial-of-Service Attack, or DDoS attack, can affect everything from mobile banking to PC banking.
In a previous video, Anonymous stated that it will specifically target New York Stock Exchange and Bank of England as well.
"They feel comfortable in their ivory towers built on the broken backs of laborers of the world," the group said. "It is time to show the world the true power and the true face of the faceless."
While the Greek bank hacking made headlines, the anonymous official who confirmed the attack said that the "only thing affected by the DDoS" was the institution's website. Time has yet to tell whether Anonymous' attacks will be more severe on other banks.
Anonymous members who intend to carry out Operation Icarus will allegedly utilize a Low Orbit Ion Cannon to simultaneously launch DDoS attacks. LOIC allows hackers to inundate servers with heavy network traffic. The OpIcarus Facebook page lists approximately 60 financial institutions that will be targeted as a part of the campaign.
Anonymous was formed back in 2003, and it is an international-wide group. Its members and supporters are known for sporting Guy Fawkes masks. The group has been implicated in a number of movements, including Occupy Wall Street, WikiLeaks and the Arab Spring. In April, Anonymous made headlines for hacking a Ku Klux Klan website.
