The Australian Federal Police (AFP) confirmed today that its website was hacked on November 20.
An Indonesian hacker going by the name BCT_48 claimed responsibility for the attack last night on Twitter. “I’m ready for this war!” the alleged hacker tweeted.
An AFP spokesperson told Computerworld Australia that it takes any attack on its, or any other government website, “very seriously.”
“Activities such as hacking, creating or propagating malicious viruses or participating in distributed denial of service [DDoS] attacks are not harmless fun. They can result in serious long-term consequences for individuals, such as criminal convictions or jail time,” the spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, no sensitive information is hosted on the AFP website and the site is not connected to its IT systems.
“The website is not hosted by AFP ICT infrastructure but by a third party hosting provider," they said.
The spokesperson would not name the provider.
The attack follows allegations that Australian spies reportedly tried to listen to the calls of Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his wife and senior ministers during 2009.
A document, dated November 2009, is shown on the ABC website and has an Australian Department of Defence letterhead. The headline is "IA Leadership Targets + Handsets".
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has refused to comment on the allegations and won't say whether he will offer the Indonesian government an apology.
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