International Criminal Court targeted by new ‘sophisticated’ attack

The International Criminal Court announced on Monday that it had detected a “new, sophisticated and targeted cyber security incident” which it said was spotted last week.

In a statement, the ICC credited its “alert and response mechanisms” for “swiftly” discovering, confirming and containing the attack. It did not comment on the attackers’ motives, nor on whether any sensitive information from its prosecutions had been compromised.

The statement added that the Court, headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands, was currently carrying out an impact analysis following the incident and taking steps to mitigate any effects, though these potential effects were not described.

According to the Court, the continued support of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute “ensures” its “capacity to implement its critical mandate of justice and accountability,” which it stressed was a shared responsibility of all States Parties.

The ICC was created in 2002 through an international treaty, the Rome Statute, by a coalition of sovereign states. They sought to establish an international court capable of prosecuting individuals for international crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It is a separate body from the U.N. International Court of Justice, which can bring cases against countries but not individuals.

The Court previously announced another cybersecurity incident in 2023. That attack was subsequently described as an act of espionage and “a serious attempt to undermine the Court’s mandate.”

The ICC previously warned that it was experiencing heightened security concerns due to threats against several of its elected officials.

Two of the most notable individuals against whom ICC judges have recently issued arrest warrants — Russian president Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are citizens of states that have not accepted its jurisdiction.

The Israeli government condemned the move to issue arrest warrants against Benjamin Netanyahu and then defence minister Yoav Gallant as antisemitic. The ICC had also issued three arrest warrants for Hamas leaders, although two have since been killed.

In 2023, after ICC judges issued the arrest warrants for Putin and the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova for the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, authorities in Moscow in turn issued arrest warrants against the ICC president, deputy and one of its judges.

A year earlier, Dutch intelligence had detained Sergey Cherkasov, an alleged Russian military intelligence officer, who had used an elaborate false Brazilian identity in an attempt to infiltrate the ICC.

Cherkasov has since been deported back to Brazil, where he is incarcerated for using false documents. The United States has also issued charges against him. However, it is unclear whether he will be extradited to the U.S. or deported to Russia once his sentence in Brazil has been served.