Venezuela
Hackers in Venezuela target journalists and activistsPosted Oct 3 2011
A hacking group calling itself N33 stole email and Twitter passwords of at least three Venezuelan journalists and four opposition activists on Sept. 3.
Well-known Chavez critics, journalists Berenice Gómez, Ibéyise Pacheco and Leonardo Padrón; humorist and columnist Laureano Marquez; politician and columnist Eduardo Semtei; social activist and columnist Jesús Torrealba; and military analyst Rocío San Miguel were all affected.
After claiming responsibility, N33 said the government did not order the attack.
“Our only motivation was the illegitimate use of Twitter under the aegis of freedom of expression,” they wrote in a statement read on a state television channel. “No one will stop us in the effort to … take revenge on anyone who attacks the illness of the President and the integrity of institutions.”
The regional daily, El Tiempo, made contact with a source who is identified as a member of N33. In the interview, the hacking group promised more attacks and named Alberto Federico Ravell as their principal target. Ravell is the former director of the opposition television news channel Globovisión and the current editor of LaPatilla.com.
“I have always been a political target for President Chavez,” Ravell told IPI. “What I have done after the recent events is change all my passwords.”
Like most of those affected, Berenice Gómez had to open a new Twitter account. In the meantime, her hacked account was renamed and is now posting pro-Chavez messages. It has lost around 30,000 followers from its original 182,000.
According to IPI, hackers also phoned Gomez, recorded the conversation and posted it on the Internet.
“What scares me now is that they know who gives me information,” Gomez told IPI. “They could take advantage of that and intimidate, prosecute or even kill my sources.”
The government has not given a clear response to the events.