Hackers target Norway over whale hunts
The international ‘hacktivist’ group, Anonymous, which targets the internet sites of governments and other organisations, has set its sights on Norway in response to the country’s continued commercial whale hunting.
Reports have emerged from Norway that several Norwegian institutions have been targeted by the hackers who usually focus on banks and government or academic institutions.
Norway was one of the few governments to take out an ‘objection’ to the international ban on commercial whale hunting when it came into effect in 1986. The hunting industry relies on state subsidies and the government is constantly searching for new markets to exploit, with young people and tourists being major targets.
In 2016 hunters slaughtered 590 minke whales. A recent documentary aired on Norwegian television channel, NRK, revealed that around 90% of the minke whales hunted in recent years have been females, many of them pregnant.
Anonymous have previously attacked Japan and the Faroes because they also continue to kill large numbers of whales and dolphins.
