Nordea’s log-in screen on a screen in Helsinki on 11 October 2024. Nordea on Tuesday described the denial-of-service attacks it has faced in recent weeks as unprecedented due to, for example, their power and duration. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)
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NORDEA has described the recent wave of denial-of-service attacks it has faced as unusually powerful, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
Sara Mella, the head of personal banking at Nordea, on Tuesday said the attacks have been unprecedented for several reasons: they have continued relentlessly for already a month, they have generated up to 15 million service requests per second and their origin has ruled out geo-blocking as a response.
They have also not been associated with any publicly stated demands or objectives.
“In other words it appears that the purpose of the attacks is to destabilise society and erode trust through public debate in society,” she commented to the daily newspaper.
Mella added that the duration and scope of the attacks suggests that the perpetrator must have access to ample re, reminding that online bank credentials are used widely also beyond banking for authentication purposes.
Mella said Nordea has had to weigh up carefully how to communicate about the attacks in order not to promote the presumed objective of the attackers – of sowing uncertainty.
“Our interpretation is that the attacks are targeting critical societal infrastructure. Nordea has been used as a tool,” she said to Helsingin Sanomat.
The Nordic financial group, she added, has succeeded in thwarting 90 per cent of the attacks, with the main harm being that its online banking services may have been intermittently available to users.
“It’s still been possible to access our services every day,” she reminded.
That Nordic IP addresses have been leveraged in the attacks suggests that the perpetrator has hijacked home appliances to create a bot network. “It’s probable that home appliances have been turned into botnets. It’s necessary to talk about the importance of protecting household appliances that are connected to the web,” said Mella.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
