Jun 16, 11 | MalaysiaKini

At least 41 government websites were hacked into overnight but no personal or financial data were compromised, officials said today, as the Malaysia becomes the latest target of a cyber-war waged by the activists.

In the attacks, 51 websites were hit and at least 41 of these sites were disrupted, industry regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said.

The attacks, which began shortly before midnight yesterday, follow a warning by Internet vigilante group Anonymous, which said it would attack the government’s official portal to punish it for censoring WikiLeaks, the website that aims to expose governments and corporations by leaking secret documents.

hacked parliament”Our monitoring of the situation showed that there was a reduced level of attacks by 4am this morning and upon further evaluation, so far, we gauge that there has been little impact on Malaysian users as a result,” the communications commission said in a statement.

It did not name the sites which were attacked but targets included the government’s online portal www.malaysia.gov.my, and the webpages of the fire and emergency services department www.bomba.gov.my and the land public transport commission www.spad.gov.my.

NONEInspector-general of police Ismail Omar told Reuters no personal or financial data had so far been stolen but the authorities were trying to determine the extent of the attacks.

It was not immediately clear if the attacks were launched by Anonymous or other hackers.

Anonymous is a grouping of global activists lobbying for Internet freedom who frequently try to shut down the websites of businesses and other organisations that they oppose.

IT defence team pathetic

The activists gained prominence when they temporarily crippled the websites of MasterCard and Paypal that cut off financial services to WikiLeaks.

A spate of cyber attacks on multinational firms and institutions, from the US Central Intelligence Agency to Citigroup to the International Monetary Fund, has raised concerns that governments and the private sector may struggle to defend themselves against hackers.

In an earlier Internet posting, Anonymous said Malaysia’s censorship of films and television shows and its blocking of file-sharing websites amounted to a denial of human rights.

The communication commission last week banned 10 file-sharing sites and ordered Internet service providers such as Telekom Malaysia and Maxis to block access.

The restrictions have outraged ordinary Malaysians, and several people took to Twitter on Thursday to express support for the cyber attacks.

“Now to count how many sites have gotten whacked so far,” said a tweet posted by Rhyden. “I knew the government’s IT defence team was pathetic.”

The country has a vibrant Internet culture that has gained a mass following in an environment where the mainstream media is tightly controlled. The government has in the past charged bloggers with sedition, often detaining suspects for long periods without trial.

– Reuters
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Gov’t portals paralysed by Anonymous hackers group

By Kuek Ser Kuang Keng
Jun 16, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Since late yesterday, at least 10 websites of government agencies had been inaccessible due to an attack by hackers, in retaliation for the government’s earlier decision to block file-sharing websites.

hacked parliamentLast night the hackers, who call themselves Anonymous, published a list of 18 government websites which had been allegedly hit by DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attack or switched off by the website administrator.

A check by Malaysiakini at 7am today found that at least nine websites, including the flagship portal of Malaysia government MyGovernment (www.malaysia.gov.my), were still down.

Others were Sabah tourism, Asean connect, the Fire and Rescue Department, the Treasury, Parliament, Jobs Malaysia, the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry, and the National Sports Council.

The official website of the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB) was also reported to have been defaced last night.

Acccording to netizens who published a screen capture of the hacked website, the original footer had been replaced with a statement protesting the earlier blockade of websites.

hacked malaysia government“Greetings, Malaysia, We have seen the censorship taken by the Malaysian government, blocking sites like The Pirate Bay, and WikiLeaks. Malaysia is one of the world’s strictest governments, even blocking out movies, and television shows.

“These acts of censorship are inexcusable. You are taking away a basic human right. The Internet is here for freedom, without fear of government interference. Do not think that no one else notices,” read the statement.

It also said that the attack is a “sign, a warning, and an opportunity to listen to ideas above your own” and the hackers “are obligated to act fast and have no mercy”.

However the CIDB website had recovered by 7am.

hacked sabah tourismLast week, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had announced that 10 websites including Pirate Bay and Megaupload had been blocked for infringing copyright laws.

Subsequently the hackers uploaded a short clip on video-sharing website YouTube, threatening to attack government websites from today in retaliation over the ban.

Yesterday, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim said the hackers “had got the wrong end of the stick”.

“They have misunderstood our good intentions. There is no cyber censorship in Malaysia unless crimes have been committed,” he said.

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Rais: Anonymous hackers group misread gov’t aims
By Aidila Razak
Jun 15, 11 | MalaysiaKini

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim today expressed dismay that the government’s move to combat cyber crimes has received negative reactions.

NONE Commenting on a June 12 hacking threat following a government ban of 10 filesharing websites, Rais (left in picture) said the hackers “got the wrong end of the stick”.

“They have misunderstood our good intentions. There is no cyber censorship in Malaysia unless crimes have been committed,” he said.

The hackers, who call themselves Anonymous, have threatened to attack government websites from today in retaliation over the ban.

The ‘hacktivists’ had in an online posting threatened to attack the Malaysian government as it is “one of the world’s worst (in terms of internet censorship)”.

“It is unfair for them to just attack us. The goodwill of the world ought to prevail,” Rais said.

Asked if the government will take action against Anonymous, he said: “If their identity is known.”

Recently, 32 people claiming to be members of Anonymous were reportedly arrested for waging an attack on Turkish government websites for the same reason.

‘No appeal to date’

Maintaining that the blocking of the 10 top filesharing websites is not censorship, Rais said the government “did not expect” the attack but is preparing for it nevertheless.

azlan”The measures (taken) are confidential (but) the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit are taking the necessary action,” he said.

Met on the sidelines of the the World Bloggers and Social Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur this morning, Rais also revealed that this is not the first time the government has faced such threats.

He reiterated that the websites blocked can appeal to MCMC if they feel they have been unjustly banned, but no appeal has been received to date.

Last week, the MCMC had announced that 10 websites including Pirate Bay and Megaupload have been blocked as they infringe copyright laws.

Users, however lament that companies pay such websites premium fees to send high resolution files like commissioned digital artwork electronically.

NONEIn his opening speech at the summit earlier, Rais stressed on the importance of blogging responsibly.

“There are thousands of (bloggers) but how many have training in journalism and the ethics of good writing?

“What we need are good (bloggers), not symbols of attack on certain quarters.”

The minister has been on the receiving end of cyber-attacks, including on microblogging site Twitter where he was the butt of the #yorais jokes.

He has taken legal action against several bloggers who have linked him to a sexual crime, which he denies.