The website of Spain's central bank, Banco de Espana, went down after a DDoS attack by hacktivist group Anonymous Catalonia. The attack began on Sunday and continued through Monday, in protest of the arrest of political leaders who fought for the country's freedom last year.
The Anonymous Catalonia group used the hashtag “TangoDown” to announce on Twitter that DDoS attack was successful, and showed with images that the server hosting the bank's site, as well as sites of other organizations, was unavailable.
However, their success is just a statement and not a feat, as no financial losses were incurred. According to a bank representative, while the site was unavailable, the bank's internal operations continued normally without any problems, and as the bank does not have e-banking services, no customers complained.
The central bank of Spain is just one of the victims of Anonymous Catalonia, which launched its attack on the Spanish government on August 20. A member of the group published a list of the group's potential targets, but the Spanish bank is not included, meaning the list is constantly being updated.
DDoS attacks are a common form of protest for hacktivists. After choosing a target and renting a “powerful” server, they launch their attack and take down their targets’ websites. When they decide they don’t want to continue the attack, they shut down the rented server, and the targeted organization’s website returns to normal operation.
