During the past few days, the hacktivist group Anonymous have concentrated a series of attacks on Chinese websites. The group is claiming that they have successfully defaced 480 websites which include regional government sites. The hacktivist group has also left messages on the defaced sites encouraging Chinese hackers to follow suit and continue with what they have started.
The Chinese authorities have responded quickly, taking the affected sites offline. However, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) was successful in finding an affected site before it had been taken offline. A screen shot that was taken revealed a message written in English saying:
‘Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall. So expect us because we do not forgive, never. What you are doing today to your Great People, tomorrow will be inflicted to you. With no mercy.’
The WSJ also commented that on that same site that has now been taken offline, there was link that would divert the user to an Anonymous site which detailed how hackers could bypass the Great Firewall that the Chinese Government have put in place to help censor and monitor the web activities of the Chinese people.
To further enhance their message, a member of the Anonymous group left a post on the popular website PasteBin.com. The message was an attempt to encourage Chinese people start a revolt against the existing Chinese Government.
The message read, “So, we are writing this message to tell you that you should protest, you should revolt yourself protesting and who has the skills for hacking and programming and design and other ‘computer things’ come to our IRC.”
Surprisingly, this is the first time that the group Anonymous group have targeted the Chinese Government. The main reason for the group to target this government is the web censorship regulations and their stance towards human rights. The Chinese Government currently blocks website content and monitor internet access for the Chinese people.
The overall impact that these hacks have had is yet to be seen but many feel that the Chinese Government will not be too concerned at this moment of time. The main reason for this are that the sites that were defaced, displayed messages in English, which many Chinese people will not have been able to understand.
The attacks on the Chinese Government look set to continue as the hacktivist group are looking for someone who will be able to translate their messages into Chinese. If the attacks do continue and become more successful in sending out a message to the Chinese people, it will be interesting to see how the Chinese Government responds.
