Since early morning of 18.06.2010 (01:00hrs approximately) the websites of the Ministry of Transportation (http:\/\/www.ubak.gov.tr\/), Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) (http:\/\/www.tk.gov.tr\/), and the Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB) (http:\/\/www.tib.gov.tr\/) has been unaccessible. The three state bodies are responsible for Internet censorship and has been aggressively trying to make it impossible to access YouTube and Google related services from Turkey since 03 June 2010.<\/p>\n
On the 3rd of June 2010, the Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TIB) asked the Turkish Internet Service Providers to block access to certain IP addresses associated with YouTube. The ISPs then started warning their users that as a result of TIB\u2019s request to block access to certain IP addresses certain Google services may also be affected. In fact considerable number of Google related services (including popular services such as Analytics, Translate, Docs, Books, Map, and Earth) have been affected from Turkey since the 4th of June.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, on 17.06.2010 the plot thickened further as an Ankara Public Prosecutor asked Ankara\u2019s 1st Criminal Court of Peace to block access to 44 IP addresses related to YouTube and Google related services. The Court complied and granted the supplementary decision to its infamous May 2008 YouTube blocking order. Users started to report that services such as Picasa and Google Maps become impossible to use. Several other Google services are reportedly malfunctioning.<\/p>\n
It looks like somebody decided to retaliate and either the state authorities’ websites are hacked, or they have been subjected to a serious denial of service (DoS) attack. As there are no ‘hacked signatures” on the websites and they remain inaccessible for nearly 10hrs this is more likely to be a DoS attack.<\/p>\n
It is now confirmed that it was a DoS attack co-ordinated by a group of hackers to protest against Internet censorship in Turkey. A press release sent to the press stated that this was a systematic attack that lasted 10hrs. They said the attack would stop at 1100 local hour, and in fact the websites were back online by 1105. The attackers stated that they stopped the attack as a goodwill gesture, but the reason behind the attack was to protest against the unlawful blocking of access to YouTube and related IP services.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Transportation confirmed the attack later in the afternoon but stated that it only lasted 30 minutes, and that they themselves managed to stop the attack. Nobody believed the government sources, and I personally followed the story from the beginning and confirm that these websites were unaccessible since early morning until 1105 today.<\/p>\n
Written by Dr. Yaman Akdeniz, Associate Professor, Human Rights Law Research Center, Faculty of Law, Istanbul Bilgi University, and Director of Cyber-Rights.Org. (lawya@cyber-rights.org)<\/p>\n
The Attackers Press Release in Turkish<\/p>\n
Kamuoyuna Duyuru<\/p>\n
A\u015fa\u011f\u0131da s\u0131ralanm\u0131\u015f olan sistemlere eri\u015fimi TSI 01:00 ila 11:00 aras\u0131 engellenmi\u015ftir. Gerek\u00e7eleri a\u015fa\u011f\u0131da anlat\u0131lmak ile birlikte sadece bu saatler aras\u0131nda eri\u015fime engellenmesinin sebebi iyi niyetimizin bir g\u00f6stergesidir, amac\u0131m\u0131z kurumlar\u0131n \u00e7al\u0131\u015fmas\u0131n\u0131 engellemek de\u011fil a\u015fa\u011f\u0131da anlatm\u0131\u015f oldu\u011fumuz konulara kamuoyunun ve kamunun dikkatini \u00e7ekmektir.<\/p>\n
Telekom\u00fcnikasyon \u0130leti\u015fim Ba\u015fkanl\u0131\u011f\u0131 ( http:\/\/www.tib.gov.tr )
\nTelekom\u00fcnikasyon Kurumu – Bilgi Teknolojileri ve \u0130leti\u015fim Kurumu (http:\/\/www.tk.gov.tr – http:\/\/www.btk.gov.tr )
\nUla\u015ft\u0131rma Bakanl\u0131\u011f\u0131 (http:\/\/www.ubak.gov.tr )<\/p>\n
sitelerine eri\u015fim, youtube’a yonelik olarak y\u00fcr\u00fctt\u00fckleri 5651 say\u0131l\u0131 yasa kapsam\u0131ndaki hukuksuz \u00e7al\u0131\u015fmalar sebebi ile engellenmi\u015ftir.<\/p>\n
T\u00fcbitak (http:\/\/www.tubitak.gov.tr)<\/p>\n
sitesine eri\u015fim ise kurum i\u00e7erisinde yer alan, kamu g\u00fcvenli\u011fini hedef alan BOME(Bilgisayar Olaylar\u0131na M\u00fcdahale Ekibi) yap\u0131s\u0131n\u0131n fonksiyonsuzlu\u011funu ve vizyonsuzlu\u011funu g\u00f6zler \u00f6n\u00fcne sermek i\u00e7in engellenmi\u015ftir. Kamu Bilgi G\u00fcvenli\u011fi daha kendi g\u00fcvenli\u011fini sa\u011flayamayan bu tarz kurumlar\u0131n tekeline b\u0131rak\u0131lmamal\u0131d\u0131r.<\/p>\n
Bilgilerinize arz ederiz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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