Political Hacking Down South
Via the Miami Herald: Political hackers are one of Latin America’s newest headaches
Cyber-crime has been prevalent in Latin America since the dawn of online transactions. But many nations are struggling with a new threat: politically-motivated hackers.
[…]
Just this year, groups claiming to be affiliates of Anonymous — perhaps the largest and most well-known hacker group — have sprung up in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela.
Brazilian government websites have been attacked more than 1,250 times this year, according to Zone-H, which tracks hacker activity. In Colombia, hackers recently brought down sites for the ministry of education, the senate, the presidency and President Juan Manuel Santos’ personal webpage. Chile has seen waves of cyber attacks as part of Anonymous’ “BadEducation” campaign in support of student protestors.
[…]
In Colombia, government websites have been hacked and altered 480 times this year, according to Zone-H data. In all of 2010, less than 250 such defacements were reported. In Ecuador, government websites have been compromised 230 times. Venezuela has seen 200 government websites hit this year.
I suppose that this kind of thing is not only here to stay, but likely to increase in frequency globally.
Meanwhile, Venezuela may have the solution:
Venezuela’s slow Internet connections have kept it from being a hotbed for hackers
300 baud modems for everyone!
I saw the title and thought it was going to be about Colombia’s version of Dick Morris.