It should come as no surprise, but the controversial UN conference on telecommunications has been hit by hackers presumably unhappy with the international confab.
Hacking Web sites is a popular weapon of protest these days by people of all stripes and the conference – which has been dogged for months with rumours – was a natural target.
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The real issue at the WCIT conference
The real issue at the WCIT conference
According to BBC News delegates at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai suffered through a two-hour disruption in Internet access, while the public was blocked from the conference’s Web pages that outlined what’s going on.
Soon after, Network World. U.S. reported an executive at a security company speculated that the activist group Anonymous may be behind the attack, which he said was a scouting mission for a major attack this Saturday.
In a statement the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said it’s ironic that those fighting for a free Internet are blocking it.
At the opening of the 10-day conference, which hopes to renegotiate the international telecom regulations treaty that hasn’t been changed in over a decade, the ITU said the conference will not inhibit freedom of expression or information.
Delegates from countries are expected to continue to try to thrash out a proposed new treaty for a few more days.
To keep up with statements, videos and documents from the conference, here’s a link to the official site.