Hackers shut down Salvadoran ministry websites

Online "hacktivist" group Anonymous has attacked the websites of El Salvador's presidency and government ministries, forcing several to be shut down, officials said Sunday.

The group's "Operation Justice El Salvador" has "tried to attack our website to publicize the private information of internal and external users," the economy ministry said in a statement on the hours-long attack on Saturday.

Presidential spokesman David Rivas told reporters that Anonymous threatened several government websites two weeks ago, including that of the presidency, which on Saturday received at least 30 million hits, saturating the system.

The site was temporarily "suspended" to stop the cyber attack, Rivas said.

Websites for the legislative assembly, the National Civil Police and the ministries of justice and labor were also targeted.

Anonymous has been involved in scores of hacking exploits, including the recent defacing of a website of Syria's Ministry of Defense to protest a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Last year, the shadowy group launched retaliatory attacks on companies perceived to be enemies of the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

(c) 2011 AFP