Kartel: Distinctly Irish

Fine Gael have confirmed that their new website, launched last week, was hacked overnight, with the culprits believed to be the Wikileaks-linked group 'Anonymous'.

The site, www.finegael2011.com, was launched last week with a slightly unnevering video of Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny sitting at a coffee shop and asking the nation their thoughts on how to improve Ireland. After some downtime overnight, the link is back online, while the party has said said the information stored on the site is secure.

Fine Gael have confirmed that their site was attacked by a group called ‘Anonymous’, who have been linked with the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. Visitors found the page defaced with a logo of a suited figure whose head had been replaced by a question mark and the following message:

“Nothing is safe, you put your faith in this political party and they take no measures to protect you. They offer you free speech yet they censor your voice. Wake Up!”

In the wake of the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, denial of service attacks from hackers have become ever-present on high-profile websites. Expect plenty more 'hacktivism' for rival political parties' websites in the run up to the General Election.