Foreign Ministry website attacked, taken down

[Khun Don]

Foreign Ministry website attacked, taken down
Published: 26/09/2011 at 01:38 AM
Online news: Local News

The websites of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were hacked or defaced Sunday evening. The site went off the Internet late on Sunday and could not be seen as of early on Monday, Thailand time.

The main pages of the website were replaced with advertisements for drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Propecia.

But there were strong indications that the attack was at least partly political. The title of the main page was changed to "Kingdom of United States". Despite that, no clearly political messages were seen.

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The Google search engine showed the title change and the adverts for sex drugs as of late Sunday.

The website was working properly on Sunday evening. A series of Google snapshots indicated the website came under attack after 5pm Sunday Thailand time.

That was the last time an authentic MFA website was seen. Both the main Thai-language site and the English-language version were hacked and offline.

Search engines which captured the website Sunday night, after it was defaced showed detailed changes.

Most of the web pages were replaced by advertisements for illegal drugs.

The "Travels and visas" section was replaced by an advertisement for "Canadian cheap viagra", while the Consular and Diplomatic section of the website featured on its main page an offer for "Ciaslis no prescription needed."

Other main sections of the website including the Passport and Visa part were also featuring advertisements for drugs when the website went offline early on Monday.

BANGKOK POST