Pope Benedict XVI Blog

Terrorism: Islamic cyber rogues threaten Vatican site

Dubai, 8 Nov. (AKI) - Muslim hackers allegedly supporting al-Qaeda have announced - for the second time in a month - a planned attack on the Vatican's official website. The assault has been planned by Islamist cyber-rogues for Thursday 9 November at 12 am Mecca time (10 am in Italy). The announcement was made on Wednesday through the creation of an ad hoc site where hackers can download programmes to start the internet attack. "The leadership of the electronic Jihad has decided to undertake a grand attack against the official Vatican site following the insults by the Pope against our Prophet," read a statement.

"With Allah's blessing, the attack will succeed thanks to the help of our brothers if we all attack simultaneously. We ask all our brothers to be present at the hour of the attack for a joint action, because they (Catholics) have struck our religion. They must be fought and deserve to be attacked and not only on their internet site," the statement continued.

The programme foresees a series of incursions to be launched not only on Thursday 9 November but also on the 11th and 15th of the month. Even though an internet site has been created specifically to help hackers breach the Vatican's cyber defences, the appeal appears to have garnered little support in the forums that publish the statements of the al-Qaeda terror network, and only two of these sites have themselves posted the appeal.

On 11 October several internet sites which act as the mouthpieces of Islamic terrorism launched an appeal for hackers to attack the Holy See's site. The appeal allegedly attracted dozens of hackers.
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posted by Dr. Denice Hanley, DPM, M.Div. @ 5:24 PM