Assange supporters target UK websites

The Anonymous cyber-hacking group yesterday claimed responsibility for a series of attempted attacks on British government websites, in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Anonymous said on Twitter it had launched the attacks in support of Mr Assange, who is holed up in the London embassy of Ecuador, which has granted him asylum as he bids to avoid extradition to Sweden over sex crime allegations. A Ministry of Justice spokesman said its website “has been experiencing some disruption”.

“This is a public information website and no sensitive data is held on it. No other Ministry of Justice systems have been affected.”

A similar attack was made on the website of British Prime Minister David Cameron but it failed to bring the site down, a Downing Street spokesman said.

The Home Office, or interior ministry, denied its website was “hacked”.