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From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu May 13 2010 - 08:58:06 EDT
http://www.afrol.com/articles/36085
"We cannot exclude political motives for the attack on afrol News," chief
editor Rainer Chr Hennig emphasises. "Our outspoken line is not popular
among several groupings, and we have received some threats over our
reporting, especially regarding Eritrea," the editor adds."
afrol News attacked by hackers**
*afrol News <http://www.afrol.com/>, 12 May * - Online services of afrol
News have experienced serious problems last weeks following an attack by
hackers. "We will not be gagged," the afrol News editor promises, after new
security tools were implemented.
Unknown hackers attacked the afrol News website in end-April, causing
serious trouble for this outspoken independent media.
Two kinds of attacks have been identified. First, repeated bundled attacks
on the server, flooding it with false requests, aimed at making the server
hosting afrol News to collapse.
In a second attack, hackers managed to find a security hole and publish junk
messages on the afrol News website, most of which were hidden. One of the
aims of these junk messages was to make search engines such as Google to
blacklist this media.
Especially the second attack caused temporal damage to afrol News, with
large efforts to improve security impeding the media's English language
services to update. Through a backdoor, however, Spanish language services
could be partially upheld.
"We cannot exclude political motives for the attack on afrol News," chief
editor Rainer Chr Hennig emphasises. "Our outspoken line is not popular
among several groupings, and we have received some threats over our
reporting, especially regarding Eritrea," the editor adds.
Mr Hennig assures readers that security now has been improved, strongly
reducing risks. "afrol News has been an important independent voice of
African news for exactly ten years now, and readers do not need to worry. We
will be here for decades to come - no hacker or other will stop us!"
Staff in charge of security also wished to assure readers that there never
was any danger for readers or their pcs when browsing the afrol News site
during the hackers' attack. "This was confirmed to me from day one," the
editor emphasises.
*By staff writers*
*©* afrol News