Members of the global hacking group Anonymous on Thursday threatened to attack the website of the National Police in response to the arrest earlier this month of two of its Cambodian members who allegedly hacked 30 government websites.
“Target www.police.gov.kh. We will start when we get a lot more supporters to help release our two members. Please all together help to share to all of us. All Anonymous [members] around the world will join us to topple the Cambodian government,” says a post by the group on its Facebook page.
“Who arrested our members, we do not forgive and we do not forget,” the post continues. “We are going to continue doing what we do. You arrested only two of us, but still we can continue our work and will be stronger than before.”
“Ten times to 1,000 times and 10,000 times. It will never end.”
Bun Khing Mongkul Panha, 21, who goes by the online names Sex Machine and Black Cyber, and Chou Songheng, 21, who goes by Zoro, were arrested April 7 in a joint operation with local authorities and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I), but their arrests were not announced until earlier this week due to a Khmer New Year delay, according to the Ministry of Interior.
The men were charged with unauthorized access to an automated data processing system and obstructing the functioning of an automated data processing system, Chhay Sinarith, director of the Interior Ministry’s internal security department, said Thursday.
Chak Sopheap, executive director for the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, questioned whether the government would use the arrests of Mr. Panha and Mr. Songheng as a way to quickly pass a highly contested cybercrime law, a draft of which was made available online three weeks ago.
“The arrests could help the government build a case for the public in favor of a restrictive cybercrime law that includes harsh penalties,” Ms. Sopheap said.
