Hackers target government sites in extradition protest

A group of hackers have claimed responsibility for taking down the home office website apparently in protest against government extradition and surveillance policies.

Internet users were unable to fully access the department’s homepage for several hours last night, with a message on the site saying the page was currently unavailable “due to a high volume of traffic”.

One message on Twitter claiming to be from Anonymous, a loosely organised group of hackers, said the action was “for your draconian surveillance proposals”, while another said it was in protest at the UK’s controversial extradition treaty with the US.

It read: “You should not give UK citizens to foreign countries without evidence. If an offence happened in the UK, so should the trail.”

Another tweet said the action was in “protest of the potential extradition of Gary McKinnon, Christopher Harold Tappin and &Richard O’Dwyer.”

There were also claims the group had disrupted the websites of the ministry of justice and number 10.

All three government websites were fully operational yesterday.

After the home office website was disrupted, the department said it had been “aware of some reports that the home office website may be the subject of an online protest” and had “put all potential measures in place”.

The attack came after it emerged last week that the government was planning a massive expansion of its powers to monitor the email exchanges and website visits of every person in the UK.

Under legislation expected in next month’s queen’s speech, internet companies will be instructed to install hardware enabling GCHQ — the Government’s electronic “listening” agency — to examine “on demand” any phone call made, text message and email sent, and website accessed, in “real time” without a warrant.