The UK Home Office website is back online following a weekend of disruptive denial-of-service attacks by Anonymous, The Register reports.
The hacktivist collective also launched traffic-flooding assaults against the official website of the UK Prime Minister, number10.gov.uk, and the UK's Ministry of Justice as part of a protest against the UK's controversial extradition laws. The DDoS attacks, launched during #opTrialAtHome on Saturday night, were motivated by the UK government's treatment of Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon, Christopher Harold Tappin andTVShack's Richard O'Dwyer in controversial extradition cases, the hacktivists claimed on their official Twitter feed.
"#OpTrialAtHome, because selling your citizens to foreigner is not acceptable! We are #Anonymous, We do not forget, We do not forgive. #UK," Anon_Central tweeted.
In a statement, the Home Office confirmed the attack but downplayed its significance. The Home Office website was the subject of on online protest last night [Saturday]. This is a public facing website and no sensitive information is held on it.
There is no indication that the site was hacked and other Home Office systems were not affected. Further attacks against UK government sites might be expected. "#OpTrialAtHome EXPECT US…!!! Every Saturday as this is just the beginning KEEP FIRING," UKAnonymous2012 tweeted. The account named GCHQ as a target for follow-up attacks on 14 April, this time protesting a proposed tightening of internet surveillance regulations.
