‘Anonymous’ warns of more attacks on govt websites

The group of hackers who claimed responsibility for attacks on government websites in June now warns of more attacks to undermine Prime Minister Najib Razak's leadership.

PETALING JAYA: “Anonymous”, a group of hackers who claimed responsibility for hacking government websites in June, has threatened to launch fresh attacks on Oct 24.

Its goal this time – revealed through a 5.25-minute YouTube video clip – is to undermine Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia campaign.

“On Oct 24, Anonymous will crash all law enforcement servers, we will spit on your hypocritical ideas and crash any site that supports 1Malaysia,” it said in the video.

“As long as the prime minister remains, we will not stop with these attacks. This video is your only warning. Welcome to your ‘Red October”,” added the video posted by a user called 1917comrade.

The video showed contrasting clips of tear gas being fired into the protesters during the Bersih 2.0 rally on July 9 and Najib’s interview with American news channel, CNN, recently where he said that no undue force was used on the marchers.

The clips also featured images of A Kugan who died under police custody, and Teoh Beng Hock who fell to his death while under investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Innocent people

There were also images of murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu, Najib and his then aide Abdul Razak Baginda in one frame. (Razak was acquitted of abetment in the murder of Altantuya, while Najib had denied knowing the Mongolian woman.)

“We have heard the lies told by the government. We have seen what they are capable of doing. Their form of democracy has destroyed the lives of innocent people. Who will speak for these people when all voices are gone? Who will rise up and say ‘Enough’?” said an audio distorted voice against the background of these images and dramatic music.

In June, 51 government websites were hacked, according to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). Of this, 41 were disrupted.

MCMC did not name the hacked websites. However, it was reported that the hacked websites were the government’s flagship website, MyGovernment (www.malaysia.gov.my), Sabah tourism, the Treasury, Parliament, Jobs Malaysia, the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry, the National Sports Council and the Fire and Rescue Department.

Anonymous had claimed responsibility for the attacks calling it “Operasi Malaysia”. The attacks were launched following MCMC’s announcement to block 10 file-sharing sites.

Anonymous claimed that Malaysia has the “world’s strictest government, even blocking out movies, and television shows”. It also singled out Malaysia’s censorship of international whistleblower site,WikiLeaks, and prominnt file-sharing site The Pirate Bay.

The authorities claimed that no personal or financial data were compromised during the attack.