Hacked

Anonymous Hacks 100 Websites To Protest Against Whale Killing


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This Sunday, Japan police revealed that the hacktivist collective Anonymous has attacked about 100 websites in Japan since September. The group has taken the responsibility of attacks and labeled it as a response to Japan’s whale-hunting policies. Talking about the big names, the personal website of the Japanese Prime Minister was also targeted.

The hacktivist group Anonymous has targeted about 100 Japanese websites since September. The National Police Agency of Japan has said that the attacks by Anonymous have increased in the recent times. This cyberattack on Japanese websites is in response to the controversial whaling practices being carried out in the country.

While ISIS-targeted Anonymous attacks generated a widespread social media buzz, the #OpWhales campaign hasn’t attracted much attention. The same concern was voiced by a user who emailed fossBytes and told about this operation.

Apart from the websites of government offices, the groups involved in whale and dolphin hunting, news organizations, aquariums, and airports are the main targets. Talking about the big names, the personal website of the Japanese Prime Minister was also targeted.

In the recent past, the Japanese practice of hunting cetaceans has attracted widespread criticism from all around the globe. Even though the government banned commercial whale hunting years ago, it’s still a common practice in the name of scientific research.

The targeted websites were attacked using the common DDoS attack, which is a way to flood a website with a torrent of traffic and taking it down. After the attacks, a Twitter handle of Anonymous posted: “Whaling IS NOT Cultural Right! Your website is #TangoDown!”

Earlier this month, the hacktivist collective took the responsibility of taking down 5 Icelandic websites in response to government’s whale-hunting policies.

The government authorities have urged the system admins to set up a backup site and use other methods to protect themselves from DDoS attacks.

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Also read: What Is Anonymous And How Big It Is?

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