Computer hackers attack Cambodia after Swedish founder of Pirate Bay arrested: report

Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg.

PHNOM PENH, 6 September 2012 (Cambodia Herald) - Cambodia is being attacked by computer hackers after police arrested a Swedish founder of the Pirate Bay file-sharing website last week, the Wall Street Journal says.

The report late Wednesday said a group calling itself NullCrew began hacking into Cambodian government and commercial websites after news of Gottfrid Svartholm Warg's arrest.

"Among other targets were websites for the Cambodian armed forces, the Ministry of Public Works and Cambodia's Institute of Standards. NullCrew hackers then posted what they claimed were passwords to the websites on a bulletin page widely used by so-called hacktivist groups," the report said.

NullCrew was quoted as saying that "Cambodia is now a target" after the Swede's arrest. "They should have expected it when they did this," the group reportedly said. "Cambodia, we will not stop until you come to your senses."

Chin Daro, a deputy director at Telecom Cambodia, was quoted as saying that officials were working with Internet service providers to identify the source and extent of the attack. "It's hard for us if the address is outside the country," he reportedly said.

The newspaper noted that hacker attacks have emerged as an urgent challenge for governments and corporations around the world in recent years.