Bahrain: Iranian hackers attacking gov't sites

Iranian hackers have started a daily campaign against Bahrain government websites, a Bahrain-based news site reported on Tuesday. The Gulf Daily News quoted a Bahrain information official as saying that they have traced the Internet Protocol addresses of recent attacks to Iran. "We have tracked down some of the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and found they were linked with Iran and some even with the outlawed group Hizbollah," it quoted an official from the Information Affairs Authority's (IAA) Publications and Press Directorate as saying. On Sunday, the Gulf Daily News reported that the Bahraini Housing Ministry's website had been targeted over the weekend. But the Housing Ministry claimed that there was no leak of information from its database of eligible applicants and beneficiaries of housing services, despite Saturday's attack on its website. It added that authorities have also fended off cyberattacks on websites belonging to the Interior Ministry and the Bahrain News Agency. "There are also some Iranians in Europe targeting our websites," the Gulf Daily News quoted the official as saying. According to the Gulf Daily News, ministry sources believe that the hackers were Iranian because they found an image of a hand covered in blood and a soldier moving away from a corpse with a US flag in the background, amid anti-government messages. "Such attempts clearly show that these hackers are spreading false claims by targeting government websites," said the official. "We have the latest technologies to counter these attacks by all means and are successfully stopping hackers on a daily basis," the official added. According to the official, the hackers first started to hit websites in Bahrain during the unrest and then stopped. "But since last week, they are active again." Bahrain authorities have noted down all IPs that are being used by hackers that target government websites and are awaiting permission to file official complaints against them. The official said that some websites were calling for violence or Jihad in Bahrain. "We know for a fact these calls are made by hackers in Iran and Pakistan, spreading their message of violence or calling for Jihad against GCC troops in Bahrain," the official said. "At the moment we are on standby round-the-clock, monitoring all online content and blocking it if it violates rules and regulations," he added. PHL embassy website also hacked The Gulf Daily News mentioned a hack on the website of the Philippine Embassy in Bahrain last month "to plant propaganda against Bahrain authorities." Last April 13, the Philippine embassy issued a disclaimer disowning the news items. "Said items contain reports on political issues from other media sources concerning the unrest in Bahrain. An example is a news report last April 5 saying that the Manama regime and Saudi-led forces in Bahrain remove the body organs of those killed in anti-government protests. In this connection, the Embassy wishes to clarify that such unverified and slanted anti-government items are unauthorized. This irresponsible act is the handiwork of some unscrupulous persons who may have intruded into and hacked the Embassy website," the Philippine embassy said. The Gulf Daily News also noted a report carried by Iranian television channel Press TV, "which has gone out of its way to stoke tensions in Bahrain," was uploaded onto the Philippines Embassy website on April 5. — TJD, GMA News