Italy party says 'hacker attack' on presidential poll

Anti-establishment Five Star Movement parliamentarians are gathered prior to getting on a bus on April 5, 2013 in Italy
Anti-establishment Five Star Movement parliamentarians are gathered prior to getting on a bus that will bring them to a destination still kept secret to meet head of the movement Beppe Grillo on April 5, 2013 in Italy. The protest party said its website had come under a "hacker attack" that would force it to hold a new online poll among its members to identify possible candidates for president.

An Italian protest party said its website had come under a "hacker attack" that would force it to hold a new online poll among its members on Friday to identify possible candidates for president.

"The voting on the president yesterday came under a ," the Five Star Movement led by former comedian Beppe Grillo said on its blog.

"We have therefore decided to cancel yesterday's and hold a new one today with higher levels of security," the statement said.

The top 10 names selected will be voted on again on Monday to come up with the party's candidate for president, which in Italy is elected by parliament.

The party said earlier that the country's two-main political forces—the centre-right and centre-left—were deciding on candidates in "secret rooms" and said it wanted "a public and democratic consultation".

Among the possible names mentioned by M5S supporters on social media was Gino Strada, the outspoken head of the international medical charity Emergency, and Milena Gabanelli, an investigative journalist on public television.

A joint session of is due to meet to begin voting for a new president on Thursday.

(c) 2013 AFP

Citation: Italy party says 'hacker attack' on presidential poll (2013, April 12) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2013-04-italy-party-hacker-presidential-poll.html
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