Hackers take down Polish PM's website as anti-piracy act looms

Polskie Radio

Polish prime minister's website was hacked Monday morning.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's website was taken offline this morning following attacks by hackers protesting the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Polskie Radio reported on its website. 

Internet users who visited Tusk's website today were greeted by a page with black background and a title that read "Hacked by Polish Underground."  

The usual contents of the website were replaced by a video of a man who looked like Donald Tusk, wearing an army uniform and dark glasses “in the style of General [Wojciech] Jaruzelski when he announced the beginning of the martial law crackdown against Solidarity activists in 1981,” the report said.  

Online activist group Anonymous yesterday tweeted that the “Polish revolution is beginning” ahead of a series of attacks on Polish government websites, including the culture and defense ministries, which caused the targeted websites to crash.  

Anonymous said today that they had suspended their attacks on Polish government websites until after a meeting between Tusk and the country’s culture, digitalization and foreign affairs ministers to discuss signing the ACTA legislation on Jan. 26.

The announcement by Anonymous did not deter other groups from carrying out attacks, however, as evidenced by the hacking of the Polish prime minister's website.  

ACTA seeks to establish an international legal framework and a governing body to enforce intellectual property rights.