Internet becomes battleground in Venezuela
- June 11, 2007 1:16 PM |
- By Paul Jay
by Paul Jay, CBC News online
When you think of web-based attacks from hackers, what country first coes to mind? The United States? China? Try Venezuela.
Last week Akamai Technologies Inc. launched a new free web service that allowed viewers to see a sort of internet weather report on global traffic tie-ups and attacks. Surprisingly, Venezuela had the highest attacks of any region. And it wasn't really close.
On June 6, Akamai reported there had been 844 attacks in Venezuela in the past 24 hours, over 500 more attacks than the next closest nation. Over the weekend things had calmed down a bit, with the number of attacks as of 1 p.m. on June 11 down to 351 over the previous 24 hours.
China was the next-closest nation outside of the United States on Monday with 226 attacks. U.S. results were broken down by state, with California leading all states with 27 attacks in the past 24 hours.
The results are a bit surprising, but not when you consider the political unrest in the nation. According to a story from the Agence France-Presse, both anti-government protestors and government supporters have taken their fight to the internet since Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced he would not be renewing the license of a television station that was a frequent critic of his policies.
The AFP said both sides have had their sites shut down because of concentrated attacks from hackers.
The raging web war in Venezuela comes a month after Estonia's government sites were effectively shut down by a series of attacks in May.
About the Authors
- Tara Kimura
is a multimedia producer for CBCNews.ca.
Categories
All News blogs
Most Commented
Most Recommended
Tech Bytes
Most Commented
Most Recommended
Recent Entries
- Universe hates Higgs boson, Chicago Cubs
- By John Bowman, CBCNews. A physicist working on the Large Hadron Collider doesn't think much of the theory that the universe is sabotaging the project to prevent the discovery of the Higgs boson. Might as well say that Nature hates... Continue reading this post
- Large Hadron Collider goes Back to the Future
- By Peter Evans, CBCNews.ca. Two respected physicists have put forward the theory that the Large Hadron Collider's stated aim of finding the Higgs boson might be so abhorrent to nature that mysterious forces are traveling back through time and sabotaging... Continue reading this post
- Multi-touch concept for desktops: 10/GUI
- By John Bowman, CBCNews.ca. I'm a fan of alternative ideas for human-computer interaction, so this video caught my attention. It shows an idea for a ten-finger touchpad interface and associated changes in the way a computer would handle multiple windows.... Continue reading this post
Comments (5)
This smells rather strongly of CIA.
Yes Jamie. This smells rather strongly of the CIA. Did you check underneath your bed? They're there also!
Why did you choose to use the phrase "Chavez announced he would not be renewing the license of a television station that was a frequent critic of his policies", rather than the documented fact that this television station was active in the overthrow of a duly elected government - in other words sedition?
They couldnt mention the real reason behind the closure. That just wouldnt fit in with the Americans Media war against Chavez. Gosh, how could a 'Regime Change' ever happen if they reported the truth.
The reporting on this story in Canadian media has been abysmal. Watching Irish news there was a great documentary on the role of the media in the foiled CIA coup. The people who owned the station were bragging as to how they had aided the conspirators during the coup, before the citizens revolted.
In most countries this would have meant arrests and treason charges. There, it meant a slap on the wrist and loss of a licence. Yet the Canadian and US media makes it out as some sort of vile plot by a mad man. Do journalists even try and provide perspective anymore?
The CBC used to be fairly reliable. What happened?