‘Anonymous’ May Attack Nicaragua, Venezuela Govts Over Libya
A source within hacker activist group Anonymous told Antiwar.com that media and government targets within Nicaragua and Venezuela may be hit within days, due to rhetorical support for Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi.
Yesterday, Nicaraguan President and former Sandinista rebel group leader Daniel Ortega "expressed solidarity" with Gadhafi’s "revolution."
"I have been speaking with Gadhafi on the telephone… he is again fighting a great battle, how many battles has Gadhafi had to fight," said Ortega. "In these circumstances they are looking for a way to have a dialogue, but defend the unity of the nation, so the country does not disintegrate, so there will not be anarchy in the country."
Several Anonymous-allied Twitter accounts reacted in outrage to the statement.
In Venezuela, TeleSurTV, founded by President Hugo Chávez and state-funded in large part, took no official line on Libya but in a 10-minute segment Monday night, only commentators sympathetic to Gadhafi were interviewed by an "impartial" host. All said that Gadhafi had done a lot for the Libyan people and the unrest is being provoked and funded by Western "imperialists." These themes were later echoed in a rambling speech by the dictator himself on Libyan state television.
Chávez himself has not himself said anything at all about the Libyan situation or his erstwhile revolutionary ally.
The Anonymous source said this could leave both Latin American states’ governments open to DDoS attacks, which would shut them down for a period of time. They may even be hacked.
Libyan state websites were attacked overnight by Anonymous members. As of right now, the central bank’s site is not functioning. The internet in Libya has not officially been shut off, as it was in Egypt, but there is evidence of internal interruption.
The source clarified that the group only attacks state media.
In other regional news, Peru has withdrawn diplomatic relations with Libya for the time being.
"I have been speaking with Gadhafi on the telephone… he is again fighting a great battle, how many battles has Gadhafi had to fight," said Ortega. "In these circumstances they are looking for a way to have a dialogue, but defend the unity of the nation, so the country does not disintegrate, so there will not be anarchy in the country."
Several Anonymous-allied Twitter accounts reacted in outrage to the statement.
In Venezuela, TeleSurTV, founded by President Hugo Chávez and state-funded in large part, took no official line on Libya but in a 10-minute segment Monday night, only commentators sympathetic to Gadhafi were interviewed by an "impartial" host. All said that Gadhafi had done a lot for the Libyan people and the unrest is being provoked and funded by Western "imperialists." These themes were later echoed in a rambling speech by the dictator himself on Libyan state television.
Chávez himself has not himself said anything at all about the Libyan situation or his erstwhile revolutionary ally.
The Anonymous source said this could leave both Latin American states’ governments open to DDoS attacks, which would shut them down for a period of time. They may even be hacked.
Libyan state websites were attacked overnight by Anonymous members. As of right now, the central bank’s site is not functioning. The internet in Libya has not officially been shut off, as it was in Egypt, but there is evidence of internal interruption.
The source clarified that the group only attacks state media.
In other regional news, Peru has withdrawn diplomatic relations with Libya for the time being.
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