The International Criminal Court (ICC) says a “sophisticated” cyberattack targeted the institution, the second such incident in two years.
It said the attack was detected and contained, and that mitigating steps are already being taken to manage its effects.
The ICC did not detail what these “effects” were, nor did it elaborate on exactly what kind of attack it contained.
However, it said the latest effort was the “second of this type” since 2023, referring to the one that hit the court’s war crimes tribunal as it was probing Russia in connection with its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
At the time, the ICC said it was a “targeted and sophisticated attack with the objective of espionage,” but did not attribute the assault to any group or nation.
It came during a period of heightened security concerns for the court, with senior officials and judges undergoing criminal proceedings and defenders batting away daily, persistent raids on ICC infrastructure.
As part of this heightened tension, the court also allegedly foiled a plot to plant a hostile spy within its ranks, a person said to have been disguised as an intern.
Of the latest strike, the ICC said: “The court considers it essential to inform the public and its States Parties about such incidents as well as efforts to address them, and calls for continued support in the face of such challenges.
“Such support ensures the Court’s capacity to implement its critical mandate of justice and accountability, which is a shared responsibility of all States Parties.”
Active ICC engagements
At present, the ICC has 12 open investigations into situations in regions across the world and 16 open cases against individuals, many of which pertain to alleged war crimes in Africa and the Middle East.
While they aren’t listed on the open cases web pages, in November the ICC also issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, his former chief of defense, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim “Deif” Al-Masri, all over alleged war crimes.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has been at the center of geopolitics for years, and more recently military exchanges between Israel, the US, and Iran heightened tensions.
Relations between the ICC and the US have turned especially sour in recent weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced retaliatory sanctions against four court judges, all of whom are women.
Rubio cited the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, and the ICC’s investigation into the US’s alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, in announcing the sanctions in June.
The ICC said it “deplores” the US’s decision to sanction the four judges: Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou (Benin), Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda), Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza (Peru), and Beti Hohler (Slovenia).
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said he was “profoundly disturbed” at the US’s decision.
Urging the government to revoke the sanctions, he added: “Attacks against judges for performance of their judicial functions, at national or international levels, run directly counter to respect for the rule of law and the equal protection of the law – values for which the US has long stood. Such attacks are deeply corrosive of good governance and the due administration of justice.”
Additionally, the ICC also has an arrest warrant out for Russia’s president Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine.
The Register asked the ICC to elaborate on the nature of the attack and who might be responsible.
Of the major global cyber powers – states capable of and those with a historical willingness to execute sophisticated espionage operations – neither China, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Russia, nor the US is among the 125 members of the ICC. ®
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