#OperationGreenRights is a-go for Anonymous Italy

Feb 25, 2016 14:15 GMT  ·  By

The Italian branch of the Anonymous hacker collective has been busy launching DDoS and cyber-attacks on local authorities for participating in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project, ANSA reports.

The attacks took place over the weekend and targeted the Apulia (Puglia) and Basilicata regions, both neighbors in Italy's boot heel (South).

At first, the group launched DDoS attacks aimed at the Apulia region government portal, bringing it down and using the attack to mask their intrusion.

According to screenshots posted by some of the hackers that participated in the cyber-attack, they did manage to access the portal's filesystem. The hackers used this access to leave a defacement message behind (see gallery attached to this article).

Their intrusion was eventually detected, and the portal's IT administrators brought the site down. At the time of writing this article, around five days later, the website is still down.

The attack on the Basilicata region was only a DDoS attack, which eventually stopped. The region's portal is now up and running.

Cyber-attacks motivated by ecological reasons

In tweets and blog posts, the hackers that participated in this operation say they did it because of Italy's plans to participate in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project.

This project involves the creation of a gas pipeline from Azerbaijan, through Turkey, Greece, Albania, Italy, and then to other Western European countries.

The hackers stress that this project completely ignores environmental issues and also puts in danger many of Apulia's historical landmarks, of which some are included in UNESCO's World Heritage project.

The pipeline's construction started last year and is expected to finish in 2019. Authorities anticipate the pipeline will deliver 10 billion cubic meters per year. They also say that its transport capacity can be extended to 20 billion cubic meters per year if ever needed.  

Anonymous Italy attack on government sites (3 Images)

Anonymous attacks two regional government sites in Italy
Defacement message left on Apulia's government portalHackers accessing the Apulia government portal filesystem
Open gallery