Hacking group ‘Anonymous’ hacked into the UK Home Office website on Saturday night and shut it down.
The alleged ‘denial of service attack’ was in protest against ‘harsh surveillance proposals’ made by the UK Government, which would potentially allow the security services to monitor every email, phone call and website, to see who people were contacting and what websites they viewed.
The protests were partly also against the extraditions of British citizens by Scottish hacker, Gary McKinnon, 46, who is accused of hacking US military computers. The hack made it impossible to access the Home Office website for almost an hour, The Telegraph reports.
The hacking group on Twitter, posted under the name AnonOpUK, saying: “Anonymous is famous …. UK Home Office. Maybe you should start to listen to the people.”
A Home Office spokesman said, "We are aware of some reports that the Home Office website may be the subject of an online protest. We have put all potential measures in place and will be monitoring the situation very closely."
He added further that he was not in a position to discuss who might be mounting the suspected attack or why. The Home Office emphasized that if a successful denial of service attempt occurred again, it would "liaise with the technical team and update as necessary.”
The plans of the ministers seems to have backfired, with senior MPs from both coalition parties, as well as civil liberties groups, blaming the government’s decision of surveillance.
The proposal has also been condemned by opponents, as an unnecessary extension of the state's powers to "snoop" on its citizens.
