Media Release From 64forSuu.org
64forSuu.org, the website which features messages of support for Burma’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her 64th birthday, faced a cyberattack on Friday 19th June. The attack is likely to have been by the Burmese dictatorship, which has previously attacked Burma related websites.
Aung San Suu Kyi spent her 14th birthday in detention on Friday, and the website has received more than 15,000 messages of support, including from U2, George Clooney, Paul McCartney, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It has generated thousands of media articles.
The attack happened just after 8pm on Friday 19th June, and the site was down for 20 minutes. No information was lost and no data compromised. The attack was a highly sophisticated one, attempting to bring down the website by an indirect method to avoid the existing security measures used to protect the site. For security reasons we cannot reveal more details about the attack.
In recent years, websites run by Burmese exiles which report on Burma, such as www.irrawaddy.org, www.mizzima.com, and www.dvb.no, have come under attack. Analysis by the Burma Campaign UK indicated these attacks originated in Burma. With the dictatorship’s tight control over the internet, it would be impossible for these attacks to happen without their authorisation.
“The dictatorship is now trying to censor at an international level,” said Johnny Chatterton, Project Manager at 64for.org. “They censor information in Burma, and arrest those who support Aung San Suu Kyi. Now they are trying to silence those around the world who support her. They won’t succeed. The attack was quickly identified and dealt with.”
64forSuu.org was created by Burma Campaign UK, US Campaign for Burma, Open Society Institute, Not On Our Watch, Amnesty International, Avaaz, English Pen, Trade Union Congress, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Human Rights Watch, Norwegian Burma Committee, Burma Campaign Australia, Burma Info Japan, Info Birmanie (France), Burma Action Ireland, Article 19, International Peace Bureau (IPB), People in Peril (Slovakia), The Free Burma Campaign (South Africa), Austrian Burma Center, People in Need (Czech Republic), Altsean-Burma, Swedish Burma Committee, Freedom Now, and Forum of Burmese in Europe.
For more information contact Johnny Chatterton on 0207 324 4710 or johnny.chatterton@burmacampaign.org.uk
