MCLC: Anonymous hacks Chinese websites

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: anne hennochowicz (annemh at alumni.upenn.edu)
Subject: Anonymous hacks Chinese websites
************************************************************

Source: Al Jazeera (4/2/12):
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/04/20124564229864622.html

 
Anonymous hacks Chinese websites
A number of government websites replaced with messages on how to
circumvent internet restrictions.

Messages by the international hacking group Anonymous went up on a number
of Chinese government websites on Thursday to protest internet
restrictions.

On a Twitter account established in late March, Anonymous China listed the
websites it said it had hacked over the last several days. They included
government bureaus in several Chinese cities, including in Chengdu, a
provincial capital in southwest China.

Some of the sites were still blocked on Thursday, with English-language
messages shown on how to circumvent government restrictions. In a message
left on one of the hacked Chinese sites,cdcbd.gov.cn
<http://cdcbd.gov.cn/>, a home page for Chengdu's business district, the
hackers expressed anger with the Chinese government for restrictions
placed on the internet.

"Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are
hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall," the message
read. "So expect us because we do not forgive, never. What you are doing
today to your Great People, tomorrow will be inflicted to you," one of the
messages read.

Al Jazeera's Melissa Chan, reporting from Hong Kong, said that the attack
was interesting because Anonymous had mostly previously stayed away from
attacking Chinese websites.

"This is just (Anonymous') second attack (on Chinese websites)," Chan
said. "The first one a few months ago had been a corporate attack against
a Chinese company and it had exposed corporate fraud. This time, of
course, the message was more general about online censorship in China."

Chan also pointed out the attacks did not target national websites, but
smaller sites for government bureaus and minor cities.
"The other interesting thing is that the messages they left were left in
English, so then that begs the question of whether they wanted to try to
reach out to the Chinese public or not," Chan said.

Some websites that Anonymous said it attacked were working Thursday, and
government officials denied the sites were ever hacked.