11 arrested over cyberattacks on 70 government websites
Seventy official sites targeted by hackers 'partly from other regions' who declared 'cyberwar' after tear gas was used on Occupy protesters
Eleven people have been arrested over cyberattacks on more than 70 government websites this month after hackers warned of retaliation for the use of tear gas on democracy protesters.
No information was changed or stolen, nor were the government's online services affected significantly, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung told lawmakers yesterday.
Attackers made the sites intermittently inaccessible through a flood of access requests, he said.
"Attacks launched by the hackers' group originated partly from Hong Kong, and partly from other regions," So said.
"Since any internet user can join Anonymous, [the attackers] could have originated from anywhere in the world and it is hard to find out their nationalities."
Police had arrested eight men and three women, aged 13 to 39, on suspicion of accessing computers with criminal or dishonest intent, he said.