{"id":9932,"date":"2011-02-07T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2011-02-06T23:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=9932"},"modified":"2015-03-23T10:37:48","modified_gmt":"2015-03-23T10:37:48","slug":"hackers-shutdown-egyptian-regimes-websites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2011\/02\/hackers-shutdown-egyptian-regimes-websites\/","title":{"rendered":"Hackers Shutdown Egyptian Regime’s Websites"},"content":{"rendered":"

A loosely affiliated network of hackers around the world known as \u201cAnonymous<\/a>\u201d took credit for shutting down the Egyptian regime\u2019s websites in support of anti-government protestors. The group is also targeting other tyrants in the region.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Egyptian security apparatus cut off Internet access and even cell-phone service across the country in response to protests that have rocked the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Many of the demonstrations were actually orchestrated using social-networking services like Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n

In response, the group of hackers had been helping protestors circumvent the recently lifted web blackout. When service was restored, Anonymous began \u201cOperation Egypt.\u201d It went after the web portals of the Ministry of Information<\/a>, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and even the \u201cpresident\u2019s\u201d National Democratic Party<\/a> site. And it succeeded. All of the regime\u2019s targeted sites, including the cabinet\u2019s<\/a>, remained down on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cInternet in Egypt is up. Why isn’t Mubarak’s site? Because we do not forgive, We do not forget,\u201d the hacker group wrote<\/a> in a message posted Wednesday on Twitter. \u201cEgyptians, Hang in there, we are with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another message released five minutes prior, the group welcomed the nation back online and boasted of its success. \u201cWelcome back to the Internet, Egypt. Well, except http:\/\/www.moiegypt.gov.eg<\/a> — you stay down,\u201d Anonymous wrote.<\/p>\n

The group then called for the tyrant to step down. \u201chttp:\/\/www.moiegypt.gov.eg\/ is down. http:\/\/www.ndp.org.eg\/ is down. Mr. Mubarak, when will you follow?\u201d it wondered, followed by a suggestion that the dictator was seeking a domestic war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get it now. You want a full sized civil war to suit your ego,\u201d Anonymous said. \u201cIt’s called \u2018Scorched Earth\u2019, Mr. Mubarak. Just step down, not so hard.\u201d It warned that Mubarak would lose. \u201cThis was clear from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus far, Mubarak has agreed not to run for re-election. But protestors are demanding that he step down immediately, with some calling for him to be tried and executed.<\/p>\n

An unofficial spokesman for the hacker network told<\/a> the New York Times<\/em> that the efforts were part of a wider campaign to support protests that have rocked the Middle East and North Africa in recent weeks. In January, for example, Anonymous members shut down the Tunisian dictatorship\u2019s sites, as well as the stock market there. The tyrant fled the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want freedom,\u201d the Anonymous spokesman said. \u201cIt\u2019s as simple as that. We\u2019re sick of oppressive governments encroaching on people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hacker network burst into the spotlight in recent months when it attacked a series of payment-processing giants including PayPal and MasterCard. Those companies and others cut off financial ties to whistle-blowing organization WikiLeaks under pressure from the U.S. government, which the group said was unacceptable.<\/p>\n

The spokesman also told the Times<\/em> that, while he personally did not condone illegal activity, recent arrests of Anonymous members around the world in connection with past attacks would not affect future operations. Other Arab governments are already in the crosshairs.<\/p>\n

The \u201chacktivists,\u201d as they\u2019re being dubbed in the media, are targeting the Yemeni dictatorship\u2019s websites<\/a> as well, for example. So far U.S. officials have not commented on the hackers\u2019 most recent attacks, though last week the U.S. government urged the Egyptian tyrant to re-activate the web.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Obama regime and its allies in Congress are hoping to authorize what critics are calling<\/a> an Internet \u201ckill switch.\u201d It would allow the federal government to shut down the Internet, or at least parts of it, for up to 120 days in the event of a cyber crisis. An extension would have to be granted by Congress.<\/p>\n

But judging from the initial outrage, it appears that government efforts and proposals to further control or even shut down the Internet will face intense opposition. A popular image<\/a> circulating widely throughout the web features a mustached Egyptian sarcophagus face with the words: \u201cIf your government shuts down the Internet, shut down your government.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group Anonymous uses what\u2019s referred to as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack to target websites. It essentially works by sending a flood of fake requests for data to the server in question. That disables the flow of information to regular users due to the enormous volume of phony requests.<\/p>\n

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has executed a number of search warrants throughout the U.S. in connection with the group. In Europe, a number of hackers were also detained. Some of those arrested, however, have already been released. And according to the group\u2019s spokesman, they participated in the ongoing attacks against Arab regimes, too.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 thenewamerican.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A loosely affiliated network of hackers around the world known as \u201cAnonymous\u201d took credit for shutting down the Egyptian regime\u2019s websites in support of anti-government protestors. The group is also targeting other tyrants in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-whistleblowing-surveillance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}