14 DAY TRIAL // Turkish hackers have launched DoS (Denial-of-Service) attacks against the web servers of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) as part of a one-sided feud that began at the start of the month.
The attacks took place on Friday, September 9, 2016, but bank authorities only recently disclosed them.
Officials said a group of hackers named Aslan Neferler Tim (translated from Turkish as Lion Soldiers Team) attempted to flood their server Friday night and take it down.
Hackers tried to flood the bank's email server
The group took responsibility for the attack on Twitter, admitting that they only managed to take down the website "for a while."
According to bank officials, this was not a DDoS attack, but an attempt to flood the server with over five million emails per minute. The hackers launched two separate attacks until they managed to bring down the Bank's server.
"The hackers did not have any access to any of our sensitive data," Christian Gutlederer, the spokesman for Austria’s National Bank, told local newspaper The Local.
The hacking group said on Twitter they'll continue to attack Austrian private and public organizations.
This is the second attack on Austrian organizations
Six days before, on September 3, 2016, the group launched DDoS attacks against the website of the Vienna International Airport.
The group's attack was triggered by an incident from early September when Turkish passengers of a British Airlines flight were forced by Austrian officials to spend the night inside the airport, instead of being granted an emergency visa and allowed to use a nearby hotel.
In this most recent attack, the hackers also cited political differences between the two countries. After the Turkish failed coup and the repercussions that followed, Austrian officials were adamant they wouldn't support Turkey's efforts to join the EU. Turkey officials recalled their ambassador in Vienna following the government's new stance.
Avusturya merkez bankası tarafımızca bi süreliğine erişime kapatılmıştır.Saldırılar artarak devam edecektir. #ANT pic.twitter.com/rVX2dN363g — Aslan Neferler Tim (@AslaNeferler) September 9, 2016