Hacktivist collective Anonymous has launched cyber-attacks on major financial institutions across the world, including the Bank of England, in order to “start an online revolution.”
Hackers claimed to have taken down the Bank of England’s internal email server as part of an operation dubbed ‘OpIcarus.’
Mail.bankofengland.co.uk was down for part of Friday.
Hackers affiliated with Anonymous also claimed to have shut down several international banks over the past four days, including the National Reserve Bank of Tonga, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the central banks of Sweden, Myanmar and Laos.
A hacktivist who goes by the name ‘S1ege’ claimed responsibility for the attacks, stating they want to “start an online revolution” to retaliate against the “elite banking cartels putting the world in a perpetual state of chaos.”
S1ege, who is thought to be a member of the Ghost Squad branch of Anonymous, said the focus of future cyber-attacks will be “NASDAQ, NYSE and Paypal.”
According to IBTimes, none of the institutions subject to attack have disclosed the extent of damage.
While some banks were taken down for only a few minutes, others were left offline for hours.