Picture: Tony Öhberg for Finland Today
OP Financial Group is still suffering from the plague of the digital age: the denial-of-services attacks.
In simple terms, the malicious attack floods the communications systems and prevents the customers’ banking operations, from withdrawing money to paying online.
The attacks started on the New Year’s Eve, around 16:30. The services started to function again at times and were completely restored and available to customers after midnight.
Nevertheless, OP said in a bulletin that further disruptions are possible as the corrective measures are still ongoing and the security level of data traffic has been raised for the time being.
Those visiting abroad, especially, are currently in trouble as OP has been forced to restrict traffic from foreign countries.
One of the victims is Arte Juutinen, who on Friday tweeted being in the Philippines, unable to withdraw cash in the country where most services are paid by cash only.
“Please hurry,” he wrote to OP and received a reply that the bank will do their best.
For the time being, the identity of the attacker is unknown.
OP’s website was subject to exceptional malicious traffic from both abroad and Finland.
OP’s experts are investigating the situation in cooperation with the authorities, service company Tieto, responsible for OP’s data communications, as well as operators.
OP has submitted a report on an offence on the denial-of-services attack to the police, and the National Bureau of Investigation is investigating the matter.
