Hackers wage attacks in support of WikiLeaks

14 years ago

Credit card companies MasterCard and Visa have come under an intense cyber attack as supporters of WikiLeaks retaliate for moves against Julian Assange after the release of US diplomatic cables.

Hackers attacked the websites of the credit card giants in revenge for their decisions to cut off funding to whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

The group ‘Anonymous’ claimed credit for bringing down the websites of the two firms after they suspended payments to WikiLeaks, and for attacking the site of a Swiss bank that closed an account of Mr Assange.

They also temporarily disabled the official website of the Swedish government.

The fallout from the US State Department cables released by WikiLeaks, which said it had nothing to do with the hacking, continued yesterday with news organisations in the US and Europe releasing more revelations.

The Guardian newspaper published cables that showed a top Shell executive boasting the oil giant had inserted staff into all levels of the Nigerian government and knew ‘everything that was being done in those ministries.’

Cables posted by the New York Times, meanwhile, recounted how Washington pressured Germany to not issue arrest warrants against CIA officers involved in the 2003 kidnapping of a German citizen mistakenly thought to be involved with Islamic militants.

As Mr Assange spent his first full day in a London prison after he was refused bail on Tuesday, it emerged that one of Britain’s highest-profile lawyers will fight moves to extradite him to Sweden to face rape accusations.

WikiLeaks has enraged governments around the world by releasing a wave of US diplomatic cables, detailing everything from China’s view of North Korea to unflattering descriptions of world leaders.

After WikiLeaks appealed for donations to be able to continue its activities, Mastercard and Visa said they were suspending payments to the site, sparking attacks on their websites.

The Swiss Post Office banking service, PostFinance, also became a target after earlier in the week revealing that it had closed an account set up by Mr Assange, saying he had given false information.

Cyber attacks by ‘Anonymous’ knocked all three sites offline yesterday.

Even US conservative icon Sarah Palin was a target of the group following her call to pursue Mr Assange ‘with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders.’

Mastercard claimed the attack had limited effect on its services, saying in a statement to the BBC: ‘While we have seen limited interruption in some web-based services, cardholders can continue to use their cards for secure transactions globally.’

PayPal attack

‘Anonymous’ launched its campaign at the weekend with an attack on PayPal, which blocked financial transfers to WikiLeaks last week.

It now claims to have recruited some 4,000 hackers to launch co-ordinated attacks aimed at overwhelming a site so it slows down or is knocked offline completely.

‘Anyone that has an anti-WikiLeaks agenda is within our scope of attack,’ said the group in an online chat with Agence France-Presse.

WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said the hackers were ‘not associated’ with his organisation.

Geoffrey Robertson, a barrister who has established a reputation for arguing for victims of human rights abuses, will defend Mr Assange in his attempts to avoid extradition to Sweden where he faces allegations of rape and molestation.

After lying low for weeks, Mr Assange emerged on Tuesday and handed himself in to police in London, appearing before a judge who denied him bail despite offers by celebrities, including film director Ken Loach, to put up surety.

He was ordered to return to court on 14 December.

Mr Assange’s supporters insist the extradition request is politically motivated, a claim refuted by the lawyer for the two Swedish women behind the rape claims.

In other releases, set to continue as WikiLeaks promised despite Mr Assange’s arrest, cables showed Washington had branded Australia’s ex-premier Kevin Rudd as a ‘mistake-prone control freak.’

That prompted Mr Rudd – now Australian foreign minister – to blame the US for the leak of secret cables, pointing to a ‘core problem’ with its diplomatic security.