Port of Rotterdam Authority

In June 2023, the Port of Rotterdam Authority, one of Europe’s largest and most critical maritime hubs, fell victim to a coordinated DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack executed by pro-Russian hackers. The assault targeted the port’s official websites, overwhelming their servers with malicious traffic and rendering them inaccessible for hours to days. The disruption affected operational visibility, public communications, and potentially logistical coordination, though no direct breach of sensitive data (e.g., cargo manifests, financial records, or employee/customer information) was reported.The attack underscored vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, given the port’s role in global trade and supply chains. While the financial or reputational damage was not quantified, the prolonged outage of official portals could have cascading effects—delaying stakeholder communications, eroding trust among shipping partners, and exposing gaps in cyber resilience. Dutch authorities confirmed similar attacks on other ports (Amsterdam, Groningen, Den Helder), suggesting a geopolitically motivated campaign rather than isolated incidents. No ransom demands or data exfiltration were involved, but the operational disruption aligned with broader patterns of cyber warfare targeting economic stability.

Source: https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/economie/artikel/5390268/pro-russische-cybercriminelen-ddos-aanval-havenbedrijf-rotterdam-amsterdam

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/port-of-rotterdam

"id": "por433092125",
"linkid": "port-of-rotterdam",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "6/2023",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "6",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the economy of geographical region"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Maritime/Logistics',
                        'location': 'Groningen, Netherlands',
                        'name': 'Port of Groningen',
                        'type': 'Port Authority'},
                       {'industry': 'Maritime/Logistics',
                        'location': 'Amsterdam, Netherlands',
                        'name': 'Port of Amsterdam',
                        'type': 'Port Authority'},
                       {'industry': 'Maritime/Logistics',
                        'location': 'Rotterdam, Netherlands',
                        'name': 'Port of Rotterdam',
                        'type': 'Port Authority'},
                       {'industry': 'Maritime/Logistics',
                        'location': 'Den Helder, Netherlands',
                        'name': 'Port of Den Helder',
                        'type': 'Port Authority'}],
 'attack_vector': 'Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)',
 'date_detected': '2023-06',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2023-06',
 'description': 'In June 2023, Pro-Russian hackers targeted several Dutch '
                'ports’ websites with DDoS attacks, knocking them offline for '
                'several hours or even days. The affected ports included '
                'Groningen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Den Helder. The attacks '
                'involved flooding websites or servers with requests until '
                'they crashed, causing temporary downtime for the port '
                "authorities' websites.",
 'impact': {'downtime': ['Several hours', 'Up to days'],
            'operational_impact': 'Websites knocked offline temporarily',
            'systems_affected': ['Port websites (Groningen, Amsterdam, '
                                 'Rotterdam, Den Helder)']},
 'references': [{'source': 'Dutch broadcaster (unspecified)'}],
 'threat_actor': 'Pro-Russian hackers',
 'title': 'DDoS Attacks on Dutch Ports by Pro-Russian Hackers',
 'type': ['DDoS Attack', 'Cyberattack']}