Pro-WikiLeaks hackers bring down Tunisian government websites

Hacktivists have struck a number of official websites in the African country of Tunisia, seemingly in response to the government’s attempts to block access related to leaked cables that related to the country.

According to The Guardian, Tunisia and other Arab nations have tried to control the flow of WikiLeaks-related information into their country by blocking websites and banning overseas newspapers.

Members of the loosely-knit Anonymous group gathered on an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) forum yesterday, and singled out various official Tunisian websites for attack.

Impacted websites that appear to have been brought down by the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack include that of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the government’s official website:

A statement posted on Anonymous-related websites explained the…

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.