Pro-China Cyberattack on CNN Cancelled

Angry Internet users postpone hacking; isolated incidents cause little trouble
By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 20, 2008 5:53 PM CDT
Pro-China Cyberattack on CNN Cancelled
Some internet users who feel that CNN has been too critical of China in coverage of Tibet decided to launch a cyberattack on CNN.com, but then backed down in the face of excessive publicity.   (Flickr)

A group of cyberattackers called off a planned virtual onslaught of CNN's main webpage yesterday as excess publicity caused confusion, ComputerWorld reports. A group called Revenge of the Flame wrote that "Our original plan for 19 April has been canceled because too many people are aware of it and the situation is chaotic," but threatened a renewed offensive sometime soon.

Angry hackers had planned the attack as a retaliation for what they feel is a pro-Tibet stance taken by CNN's reporting. Although the group did not go through with overwhelming the site's servers as intended, some isolated attacks on Thursday causes minor disruptions of service to "some users in limited areas of Asia," according to CNN, which wasn't very inconvenienced. (More hackers stories.)

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