Malaysian government sites reported that they were the victims of the most recent hacker attack. No one is for certain as to why the online world has seen such activity on the part of hackers. There’ve been reports all over the world from different countries, companies, and web sites that are seeing an upswing in these malicious attacks. News from Tokyo came out recently that the server for Nintendo’s U.S. web site was hacked. Though absolutely no data or information was compromised, it still causes room for concern. The attack on Sony Corp.’s PlayStation Network was far less benign. Hackers breeched the company’s site and stole over a hundred million-user account details. Even the U.S. Government has voiced concerns about recent attacks.
Malaysian officials stated that the attack that took place was a part of an attempt to hack 51 different government web sites. It was also released that 41 of those attacks were successful in disrupting services. It is still unclear as to the level of damage that’s been caused when the sites’ security were compromised. The nature of the attacks is still unclear but government officials stated that, “We do not expect the overall recovery to these websites to take long as most websites have already recovered from the attack.” This is good news but trouble all the same.
No group has come forward to take credit for the attack but one group, “Anonymous”, said that this attack was in response to the Malaysian government blocking some web sites. It was further explained that, earlier this week, Malaysia began censoring films and TV shows and is blocking access to some file-sharing sites that, some have argued, is a denial of basic human rights. It’s uncertain if this is the real reason for the attack nor is any government clear on how to proceed.
Malaysia hasn’t been the only government to find themselves at risk. It seems that wherever the people are, that’s where the hackers go. Even the U.S. Government has released reports in the last several months of attacks on its sites in the attempts to access sensitive materials. In fact, the American government has taken this so seriously that, as MSN reported, the U.S. has decided that hacking can be considered an act of war.
As governments, businesses, and citizens are looking at the reports, this global trend raises serious questions about, not only to our online security, who is coordinating these attacks. These attacks have come on the heels of, what seems to be; a global movement as one country, company, and business is attacked after another. It’s making the world wonder if there’s anyone safe. It’s become increasingly important for sites to make their online security and data storage a number one priority. There are companies around the world, like San Francisco Data Center, that securely offer power and connectively capacity to support any level of need. Even with that said, the world is going to have to redouble it’s efforts to fight this growing tide of hacker attacks.
