Anonymous Targets Numerous Icelandic Websites Because Of Whaling

Hacktivist group Anonymous have launched a new campaign, against whaling, which targeted a number of Icelandic websites. The operation is still ongoing.

The campaign, #OpWhales, was launched by Anonymous in protest of Iceland’s whaling practices. In particular, they object to the hunting of fin whales, which the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified as endangered, with a moratorium put in place on the breed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1986.

The operation thus far has targeted a number of Icelandic websites. These include the website of the Prime Minister, Iceland.is, MBL.is, Síminn.is, Menn.is, and VisitIceland.is.

Kjarninn reports that internet company Sensa hf. had sent notice to its customers last Friday that traffic had been disrupted by coordinated attacks from Anonymous, and that they were working on a solution to repair the damage and protect these sites from further interference. They added further that operations so far appeared to be DDOS attacks, which flood traffic to select websites to such a degree that the sites can no longer respond, and time out.

On the official Twitter account for the operation, followers are also encouraged to send emails to the President of Iceland and Iceland’s ambassador to the United States, to exhort Iceland to end whaling. They also provided a link to Don’tBuyFromIcelandicWhalers.com, which details which Icelandic companies are connected to whaling.