Anonymous takes its anti-whaling protests to next level by bringing down Japanese Financial Agencies’ Websites
Anonymous has been protesting against the Japanese policy of whaling ever since it broke the international convention using loopholes. According to agency officials, three Japanese websites stopped working today as they were hacked by the international hacking collective, Anonymous. The attacks may have targeted the Japanese websites in protest against Tokyo’s resumption of whale hunting on December 1. The group has carried out an organized campaign to protest Japan’s pro-whaling policies and dolphin hunt in the town of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.
Earlier in the day, the front page of Japan’s National Tax Agency’s website became unable to be loaded occasionally from 8:36 a.m. and became totally inaccessible at 10:40 a.m. The trouble occurred at a time many people were using the site to prepare for upcoming annual tax declarations. Further, Japan External Trade Organization’s website appeared to be down for some users on Wednesday at 10:48 a.m. Also, reports of Japan Securities Finance Co.’s site not working were noted.
An anonymous Twitter user protesting against Japan’s whale and dolphin hunts, who claims to be affiliated with the hacking group Anonymous has taken responsibility for the website crashes. According to Bloomberg, the user said on Twitter that the latest attacks mostly targeted the Japanese government and “their wallets because money is what they care about.” The unidentified person also threatened more such attacks and refused to reveal his or her identity.
He also claimed responsibility for past cyberattacks on the websites of Japanese companies and government institutions, including those of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Services Agency and Nissan Motor Co.
Anonymous has been protesting Japan’s whaling project, which in March 2014 was declared devoid of any scientific value by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, in December 2015, Japan began a new whaling program with the objective to hunt 3,000 Antarctic minke whales over the next 10 years.
Commercial whaling has been banned across the world for nearly three decades. Despite international criticism, Japanese whale and dolphin hunting has continued. The International Whaling Commission allows hunting and killing whales for scientific research purposes, a loophole Japan has been misusing for decades by killing thousands of whales. Scientists from the U.S., Britain, Australia, and New Zealand have argued that non-lethal scientific research can also yield fruitful results similar to those that call for the animal’s killing.
