Anonymous Defaces Many Chinese Government Websites

The Chinese government, as well as its agencies and business enterprises are now under collective attack by the hacktivist group Anonymous, as it seeks to foment unrest among Chinese citizens.

The group, which now apparently has a presence in China, claims to have hacked into and defaced hundreds of national and local government and business Websites, carrying messages decrying what the hackers say is Chinese government oppression, and with The Who song “Baba O’Reilly” playing in the background in many of the defacements.

Freedom Fight

In one Pastebin post, Anonymous lists the hundreds of sites it claims to have targeted.

In another Pastebin post, the group sent a message explaining why members are now targeting Chinese government agencies and commercial organisations.

“All these years, the Chinese Government has subjected their people to unfair laws and unhealthy processes,” the message reads. “People, each of you suffers from tyranny of that regime. Fight for justice, fight for freedom, fight for democracy! In the [defacements] and leaks in this day, we demonstrate our revolt to the Chinese system. It has to stop! We aren’t asking you for nothing, just saying to protest, to revolt yourself, to be the free person you always want to be! So, we are writing this message to tell you that you should protest, you should revolt yourself protesting.”

On some of the defaced sites, the hackers left another message, written in English: “Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today Websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall. So expect us because we do not forgive, never. What you are doing today to your Great People, tomorrow with will inflicted to you. With no mercy.”

Some of the messages were accompanied by a link to a page of tips outlining ways people can get around China’s Internet controls.

Hack Campaign

The hacks were first announced on the Anonymous China Website 30 March, and have been updated over the past several days.

Some of the hacked sites were for local government agencies in such places as Jiazhou, Taizhou and Zhongshan, according to reports.

According to a report in the International Business Times, the attacks by Anonymous began after the state media in China began cracking down on dozens of Websites in the country. The report said the Chinese government had penalised two social media sites and detained six people for spreading rumors of an attempt to overthrow the government.

What do you know about Internet piracy? Try this week’s quiz and find out!

Jeffrey Burt

Jeffrey Burt is a senior editor for eWEEK and contributor to TechWeekEurope

Recent Posts

Ericsson To Cut 1,200 Jobs in Sweden Amid ‘Challenging’ Market

Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson blamed “challenging mobile networks market” and “further volume contraction” for job…

20 hours ago

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For $8bn Fraud

Dramatic downfall. Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison for masterminding $8bn fraud that…

21 hours ago

Elon Musk Orders FSD Demo For Every Tesla US Sale

Fallout avoidance? Tesla buyers in the US must be shown how to use the FSD…

22 hours ago

Amazon Pumps Another $2.75 Billion Into Anthropic

Amazon completes its $4bn investment into AI firm Anthropic, after providing an additional $2.75bn in…

23 hours ago

The Sustainability of AI

While AI promises unparalleled efficiency, productivity, and innovation, questions regarding its environmental impact loom large.…

1 day ago