ALGIERS (Dispatches) – Algeria has accused Morocco and the Zionist regime of launching a cyberattack on the website of the official Algerian News Agency. According to Algerian state television, the website was subjected to a series of serious cyberattacks for hours as hackers tried to get into the site.
“Israel, Morocco and some areas in Europe” were behind the attacks, said an informed source. However, the agency’s defensive measures and technical systems allowed it to thwart the offensive, which is ongoing, and prevent attempts to breach its database.
The source concluded that the cyberattacks are part of the media and electronic war against Algeria, due to its critical stances and decisions, and the support for such an approach by the agency.
There was no immediate official Moroccan comment on the Algerian accusations, although this is not the first time that the two sides have exchanged allegations about electronic attacks on government institution websites.
Algerian has warned of the deterioration of relations between Algiers and Rabat amid the increasing military cooperation between Morocco and the Zionist regime.
Palestinians have hailed Algeria as one of the few Arab states to maintain a pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist stance.
In an earlier development on Sunday, a group of hackers reportedly targeted computer servers at the Technion Institute of Technology, the Zionist regime’s top technology school, saying the apartheid regime has to pay for its “lies and crimes.”
The Technion, a well-known center for cyber security education in the port city of Haifa, confirmed on Sunday that it has been the victim of a ransomware attack by a new group calling itself “Darkbit,” which apparently has ideological motives against the occupying regime.
It also said that despite the cyberattack, classes at the Technion are taking place as usual. However, the students were asked to switch to taking notes by hand in an old-fashioned way, or at least disconnect their laptops from the university network and reduce email traffic until further notice.
So far the hackers have demanded 80 Bitcoins to unlock the data, with a threat to raise the amount by 30% if they do not receive the demanded sum within 48 hours.