The following email was received in mysterious circumstances – a day before this website actually went down. Furthermore we have not done any press interviews on the subject.
Our sincere thanks to the computer specialists who repaired the damage to this very important communication tool so quickly.
Subject: New ‘cyber war’ against CFU
HARARE – A new “cyber war” has been declared against Zimbabwe’s beleaguered
white farmers after hackers attacked and disabled the Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU) website this week.
A hacker, calling himself Shadow D3v1L, swooped on the CFU on Monday,
shutting down the website which had become a useful communication tool
between the union and its members.
“The attack took place on Monday after the hackers managed to get through
the union’s computer security system,” a CFU official told The Zimbabwean.
The attack disabled the website, inserting the words such as
“Sas-Terrorist”, “Jerusalem Hacker” and “Crack-Man” on the home page.
The CFU website had become an important tool through which the union
communicated vital information to its members, the majority of whom are
fighting President Robert Mugabe’s government in court over his
controversial land reform programme.
The union was Monday frantically trying to restore its website while at the
same time ascertaining whether the hackers were operating outside Zimbabwe
or within the country.
The attack came as the CFU appeared to be making some headway in its battle
to force Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) to agree to pay compensation for farms
expropriated since 2000 and to stop its violent campaign to evict remaining
white farmers from their properties.
ENDS///