Online security is a concern for almost anyone who runs a website. There are many potential challenges and, for most of us, only ever limited resources to plough into protective measures. It is rarely feasible to defend against every conceivable threat.
With that in mind, the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) reports that over the past week it has been hit by a Distributed Denial of Service attack. It has made accessing the site difficult, if not impossible, for days on end. One of their bosses points the finger of blame squarely at the Burmese military government. It would not be the first time that speculation about tatmadaw cyber-warfare (however informal the links may be) has been aired in public. Some readers may recall that during the popular uprising of September 2007 The Irrawaddy’s website was disabled by malicious code. Some details on that attack are available here.
Thankfully, for the moment the DVB’s excellent site is back up online. I wish them the best of luck managing any future contingencies.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Chuck // Jul 28, 2008 at 8:14 am
Hey I am having problems getting back on the website can anyone help me out here. By the way I am a supporter of the rebels cause and I am a former soldier Myself. Hooah.
2 Denys Goldthorpe // Jul 28, 2008 at 11:56 am
Now (Thitsaphout Than Shwe) is trying to stifle free speech on the internet. Don’t worry Chuck or anyone else soon D.V.B should be back.
To anyone who is interested Thitsaphout is a Burmese word when translated into English is traitor
3 Nicholas Farrelly // Jul 30, 2008 at 4:09 pm
It is worth adding that the website of New Delhi-based Mizzima News has also been hit hard by a DDOS attack.
They seem to have sidestepped some of the fury with a new Burmese-language site which is available here.
Nonetheless it does look like the current episode of “cyber-warfare”, or whatever you want to call it, has new targets.
Is it the season?
Best wishes to all,
Nich
4 Satire, censorship and life in Burma today // Jul 31, 2008 at 11:07 am
[...] both Mizzima News and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) subjected to recent Distributed Denial of Service attacks it makes sense to draw some more attention to the excellent work of their journalists and [...]
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