They did it!

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

Last 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 inaccessible.

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.

“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.

Last week, the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) had announced that 10 websitesincluding Pirate Bay and Megaupload have been blocked as they infringe 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

[Source: Mkini]