November 1, 2011
Palestinians say hackers hit Internet services
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Hackers disrupted Palestinian Internet services in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the Palestinian telecoms minister said, alleging that a foreign government was behind the interference.
“All Palestinian IP addresses have been exposed to a focused, organised attack from abroad,” Mashour Abu Daqqa told Reuters. “I think this is organised by a state. This is my prediction,” he said.
Abu Daqqa said technicians from telecoms firm Paltel , an Internet services provider, were working to resolve the problem which also prevented users from viewing foreign websites. They had identified fake servers behind the disruption, he added.
“It’s between slow and stopped altogether,” said Ghassan Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian Administration in Ramallah.
In separate remarks to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Abu Daqqa said the attack was linked to the Palestinians’ admission to the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO on Monday—a diplomatic success for the Palestinians and a move opposed by Israel.
Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Karolina Tagaris
