黑客攻陷安倍官网 抗议日本捕鲸
A hacking group said on Thursday it has crashed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official website to protest Japan's plans to hunt whales.
一黑客组织称周四已攻陷日本首相安倍晋三的官方网站，以此抗议日本的捕鲸计划。
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that one of Abe's websites became inaccessible early on Thursday and police were investigating. The site was restored by the evening.
Suga acknowledged that the Anonymous hacker group has posted a Twitter message claiming responsibility, but added authorities had not singled out the group as a prime suspect.
One of the group's Twitter messages posted earlier on Thursday criticized Japan over its whaling plans, and warned that Abe's website would be brought down.
"@AbeShinzo whaling is not cultural right! Your website is #TangoDown!" the message said. The group has also retweeted anti-whaling messages and one urging Abe not to eat whale meat.
The incident on Abe's site is the latest in a series of recent attacks on Japanese websites. The group has said they were responsible for dozens of earlier attacks.
The group most likely chose Abe's site "to get public attention and spread their message against dolphin and whale hunts, rather than causing a real damage," said Nobuhiro Tsuji, a cybersecurity expert at Softbank Technology Corp. "They think bringing down the prime minister's website could cause an impact."
Japan, despite protests from anti-whaling groups, last week resumed its annual Antarctic whale hunt, which it says is done for research, under a revised plan after the International Court of Justice found its earlier program unscientific.