Two Lebanese government websites hacked
The Daily Star / Lebanon
By Justin Salhani
June 16, 2012
A caricature shows an oversized official being spoon-fed by a skinny, bare-chested man, representing “the people.”
BEIRUT:
Two Lebanese government websites were hacked Saturday by a group aligned with the online hacking community known as Anonymous.
The group Raise Your Voice (RYV) took down the websites of the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform (omsar.gov.lb) and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (pcm.gov.lb).
An Arabic-language message posted on the two government websites read: “When will the electricity come?”
The subtext read: “Do you have electricity? You ministers? Why does everything fall on the people only? We don’t want any more promises, we’ve had enough! Go on, give us electricity.”
The websites also featured the cartoon image posted on sites hacked by Raise Your Voice; that of a skinny man in rags feeding an obese man in an ill-fitting suit.
RYV is a Lebanese group unofficially aligned with the Anonymous movement. The group was thrust into the public eye after carrying out hacking attacks in April. The attacks took down government websites belonging to the ministries of labor, justice, foreign affairs and others.
This time, the group’s ire was raised by Lebanon’s shortage of electricity, which results in frequent power cuts, especially outside the country’s capital. While Beirut enjoys 21 hours of power per day, other areas in Lebanon receive as few as 3 hours of power daily.