Gay Activist Hacks Nigerian Government’s Website Over Country’s Anti-Gay Law...

Date: 06-07-2013 7:34 am (10 years ago) | Author: Tony Ladipo
- at 6-07-2013 07:34 AM (10 years ago)
(m)
Poster is not responsible for the Major Headline outside this page…..

Gay Activist Hacks Nigerian Government’s Website Over Country’s Anti-Gay Law

Premium Times
July 5,2013


An Irish hacker, angered by Nigeria’s stance on homosegxwality, has attacked Nigeria’s official government website in an attempt to coerce President Goodluck Jonathan to veto a bill seeking to jail homosegxwals.

The attack happened on Thursday night and normalcy only returned to the site at about 11.00 p.m. on Thursday. It is not known whether it was the government that regained control or whether the attackers simply suspended the attack.

The anti-gay bill, passed by Nigeria’s National Assembly and generously supported by Nigerians, seeks to jail convicted homosegxwals for 14 years.

“Nobody should live in fear of being jailed, when their only action is loving another consenting adult, regardless of gender,” the Irish hacker, Paddyhack said.

A message left on the defaced website gave the president 72 hours to “renounce and veto this Bill…”

Failure to follow our order will unleash a torrent of fury aimed directly at the direction of your administration, starting with some startling but unsurprising evidence of corruption in your ranks,”the hacker, who also claims to be a member of the global Anonymous group, said.

“No need to start destroying evidence. I already have it,” the hacker declared
.

The hacked website, Nigeria.gov.ng, is Nigeria’s official website. It is the equivalent of UK’s gov.uk and U.S’ USA.gov. It is managed by Nigeria’s information ministry.

The Thursday night attack was a continuation of an #opNigeria the attacker launched on July 1. Despite announcing his intention hours before hijacking the website, Nigeria’s Information Ministry’s web administrators appear unable to avert the attack.

“Just over two hours to launch of #OpNigeria,” the attacker announced in his twitter diary.
The spokesperson of the ministry, Joseph Mutuah, could not explain the attacks when pressed for reasons the government is unable to provide appropriate security for its web infrastructure.

He likened it to armed robbers breaking into one’s property. “They are hackers,” he said.
The ICT department of the Information Ministry received  N63.5 million from the national treasury this year. Of this amount, N10 million was set aside for the management of the website.

Nigeria cyber protest culture

Although the web profile of the attack suggests Irish origins, it is difficult to isolate the incident from Nigeria’s growing culture of cyber activism.
Cyber warfare is fast becoming a major protest tool for  Nigeria’s social media community. Besides using the Internet to disseminate information, protesters use hacking skills to get government officials’ attention to civil issues.



Posted: at 6-07-2013 07:34 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac
- papadip at 6-07-2013 07:41 AM (10 years ago)
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These are bunch of lunatics trying to blackmail Nigerian government .
They are sick….crazy

Posted: at 6-07-2013 07:41 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac
Reply
- udenzeu at 6-07-2013 10:35 AM (10 years ago)
(m)
Why can't Jonathan sign the bill imediatly......knowing fully well that delay is dangerous
Posted: at 6-07-2013 10:35 AM (10 years ago) | Gistmaniac
Reply