The International Criminal Court has taken measure following a serious cyber security incident.
ICC, in a statement on Friday said the attack was detected about five weeks ago courtesy of the alert mechanism provided by its monitoring system.
The ICC has since made various and serious efforts to address the attack.
“As soon as the incident was confirmed, steps were taken to mitigate its effects by initiating an immediate incident response with the support of the Netherlands, the Host State, and external cyber security experts,” ICC said in part of the statement.
“This included forensic analysis of the incident, its causes and its impact, and initial mitigating measures,” it added.
Attempt to undermine the Court’s mandate
So far, the evidence available indicates a targeted and sophisticated attack with the objective of espionage.
“The attack can therefore be interpreted as a serious attempt to undermine the Court’s mandate,” the ICC said.
Based on the forensic analysis carried out, the Court has already taken and says it will continue to take all necessary steps to address any compromise to data belonging to individuals, organisations and States.
It further said should evidence be found that specific data entrusted to the Court has been compromised, those affected would be contacted immediately and directly by the Court.
“For the Court, the safety of its data and maintaining trust with all of its stakeholders are paramount,” ICC said.
Meanwhile, the Hague-based court says with the information currently available, it is not presently possible to confirm who is responsible for the attack.
The Dutch law enforcement authorities have since started a criminal investigation into the Cyber-attack.
As a result of the attack, the Court is reinforcing its risk management framework and identifying actions and procedures to be ready to respond to any potential repercussions from the cyber-attack including any potential security risk to victims and witnesses, Court officials and the Court’s operations.
Disinformation campaigns targeting the ICC
In addition, as part of broader assessment into potential actions by threat actors, the Court has also identified that disinformation campaigns targeting the ICC and its officials may be anticipated to be launched in an effort to tarnish the ICC image and delegitimize its activities.
The Court is also accelerating a number of existing initiatives aimed at enhancing digital security.
This latest attack comes at the time of broader and heightened security concerns for the Court: several elected officials, including Judges of the Court and the Prosecutor, have had criminal proceedings initiated against them; the Court has recently undergone daily and persistent attempts to attack and disrupt its systems; and the Court averted an almost successful attempt to infiltrate a hostile intelligence officer into the Court under the guise of an intern.
