Hackers 'a major threat' to independent media in Myanmar

Eleven Media's English website was defaced by a group calling themselves Blink Hacker Group (BHG) in response to an editorial scrutinising the online propaganda and hate speech that is instigating religious violence in Myanmar.

This is the third such cyber attack targeting the independent Eleven Media Group this year.

“Eleven Media Group strongly condemns this attack. These hackers are well organised and extremely qualified and this is not the first time we experience such an attack. We see this as a major threat to the independent media in Myanmar,” said New Media chief editor, Zaw Ye Naung.

The hackers managed to infiltrate the Eleven Media English website and wrote obscene and offensive comments about Eleven Media Group CEO, Dr Than Htut Aung. They also accused the group of posting slanderous articles about the government. This is not the first time for Eleven Media has come under attack from BHG. The selfproclaimed “black hat” group – a term to describe hackers who violate computer security “for little reason beyond maliciousness or personal gain” – have targeted Eleven as well as various other independent Myanmar media sites in the past.

The attack was a reaction to the recent editorial by Eleven Media scrutinising religious hate speech on social media and recent attempts to incite religious violence against Muslim communities in Mandalay.