International Criminal Court hit by cyberattack during NATO summit
The court, which prosecutes genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression, said in a statement Monday that its alert and response mechanisms quickly detected, confirmed and contained the attack.
"A court-wide impact analysis is being carried out, and steps are already being taken to mitigate any effects of the incident," it said -- but gave no indication of the extent of any damage or sensitive case information that may have been compromised, stolen or lost.
The incident came amid a barrage of so-called distributed denial of service attacks targeting local governments and other Dutch institutions before and during the June 23-24 NATO summit, for which a known pro-Kremlin hacker group claimed responsibility.
Cybersecurity authorities said they also investigating the possible targeting of the train network after services connecting Amsterdam Airport Schiphol to Amsterdam and Utrecht were disrupted on Tuesday due to fire damage to cables.
Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said he believed the incident "could be sabotage."
The previous ICC incident occurred in September 2023 with the court saying at the time that it had all the hallmarks of espionage, calling it a "serious attempt to undermine the court's mandate."
Following that attack, it instituted a raft of measures in response, reinforcing its risk management framework and identifying actions and procedures in readiness for any potential repercussions including any potential security risk to victims and witnesses, court officials and court operations.
Since the court has been at the center of heated international debate with its rulings, jurisdiction and legitimacy challenged by states that do not recognize it over bias in decisions such as issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu and former Defense Minster Yoav Gallant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
That prompted the United States to impose sanctions on the court, U.S. President Donald Trump to issue an executive order sanctioning ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan.
In June, investigations into U.S. personnel who served in Afghanistan and the Israeli warrants, saw the State Department sanction an additional four judges, citing the ICC's court's efforts to "arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person without consent of that person's country of nationality."
Khan, who has had his own issues, stepped aside in May while an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him is completed. He insists he has been the victim of targeted campaign to discredit him.
Khan lost access to his Microsoft email at the same time he took his leave of absence in May with the incident providing fresh incentive for a European effort to move to alternate platforms for criticial communications that are not provided by the U.S.-tech giants.
Back in 2023, the court warned of potential disinformation campaigns targeting the ICC and its officials in an effort to "tarnish the ICC image and delegitimize its activities," pointing to criminal proceedings launched against elected officials, including Judges and the prosecutor, and daily hacking attempts.
It also claimed to have foiled at the last minute an operation to infiltrate a "hostile intelligence officer" into the court posing as an intern.
In May 2024, the Guardian published the findings of a year-long special investigation alleging Israel's intelligence agencies had waged a nine-year dirty war againt the ICC involving espionage, hacking and threats in an effort to derail the court's work.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Qantas data breach exposes up to six million customer profiles
Qantas is contacting customers after a cyber attack targeted their third-party customer service platform. On 30 June, the Australian airline detected "unusual activity" on a platform used by its contact centre to store the data of six million people, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers. Upon detection of the breach, Qantas took "immediate steps and contained the system", according to a statement. The company is still investigating the full extent of the breach, but says it is expecting the proportion of data stolen to be "significant". It has assured the public that passport details, credit card details and personal financial information were not held in the breached system, and no frequent flyer accounts, passwords or PIN numbers have been compromised. Qantas has notified the Australian Federal Police of the breach, as well as the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. "We sincerely apologise to our customers and we recognise the uncertainty this will cause," said Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson. She asked customers to call the dedicated support line if they had concerns, and confirmed that there would be no impact to Qantas' operations or the safety of the airline. The cyber attack is the latest in a string of Australian data breaches this year, with AustralianSuper and Nine Media suffering significant leaks in the past few months. In March 2025, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) released statistics revealing that 2024 was the worst year for data breaches in Australia since records began in 2018. "The trends we are observing suggest the threat of data breaches, especially through the efforts of malicious actors, is unlikely to diminish," said Australian Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind in a statement from the OAIC. Ms Kind urged businesses and government agencies to step up security measures and data protection, and highlighted that both the private and public sectors are vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
6 million Qantas customer details hacked in major cyber attack
Six million Qantas customers have been hit in a cyber attack on one of the airline's customer databases. Qantas confirmed the incident occurred when a cybercriminal targeted a call centre and gained access to a third-party platform. Qantas said personal information such as names, birth dates, email addresses, phone numbers and frequent flyer numbers was on the platform. Credit card details, personal financial information and passport details were not held in the system. The airline said it was in the process of contacting those affected. It said the system was now "contained" and there was no impact to Qantas' operations or the safety of the airline. RELATED $500,000 superannuation reality check for 'lazy' Australians vulnerable to cyber attacks Aussie earning $300,000 a year in job after completing three day course Centrelink act costing 'hardworking' taxpayers Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the airline "sincerely" apologised to customers and recognised the uncertainty this would cause. 'Our customers trust us with their personal information and we take that responsibility seriously,' Hudson said. 'We are contacting our customers today and our focus is on providing them with the necessary support. 'We are working closely with the Federal Government's National Cyber Security Coordinator, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and independent specialised cyber security experts.' Customers impacted by the breach can contact Qantas' support line on 1800 971 541 or +61 2 8028 0534 and will have access to specialist identity protection advice and resources through this in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Hamilton Spectator
4 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Movie Review: In ‘Heads of State,' a buddy comedy with statesmen
Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle 'Heads of State,' but it's surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO. The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected U.S. President Will Derringer, a former action star. 'Heads of State,' directed by Ilya Naishuller ('Nobody'), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that 'Heads of State,' which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: 'If NATO falls, there's backstop against despots and dictators.'not It's a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that 'Heads of State' is too timely, don't. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much 'Heads of State' — like most of Hollywood's output — is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality. You could argue that that's not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of 'Heads of State' is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie's mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences. The best thing going for 'Heads of State' is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The 'Suicide Squad' co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters' divergent histories — Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician — in debates like which one of them is 'gym strong' as opposed to 'strong strong.' That's one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in 'Heads of State' goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies — 'Midnight Run,' '48 Hrs.,' 'The Nice Guys' — are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena's Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they're both beefy dudes in suits. As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we're left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions. 'Heads of State,' an Amazon MGM Studios release is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for sequences of strong violence/action, language and some smoking. Running time: 113 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.
