Greek authorities have created a special team to protect Greek banks from a team of hackers who have allegedly threatened to bring down the lenders’ electronic systems if they do not pay a ransom.



Kathimerini understands that the group, called Armada Collective, has threatened a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack unless they are paid a ransom in bitcoins.



The hackers caused the online banking systems of three Greek lenders to briefly stop working on Thursday, sources said. They said that if they are not paid by Monday, November 30, they would cause more severe disruption.



The National Intelligence Service (EYP), the Financial Crimes Squad (SDOE), the banks and the Bank of Greece have put together a team of experts to confront the problem.



The group is thought to have targeted other victims, including in Switzerland and Thailand, in recent weeks.