Interpol site becomes new victim of cyber attack

LONDON, UK: In a suspected cyber attack, Interpol's website was brought down briefly on Tuesday. The incident comes on the heels of the international police agency announced the arrests of 25 suspected members of the hacking activist group Anonymous in Europe and South America, says a report on The Guardian.

According to the report Anonymous supporters have been making online claims that it had been targeted following the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain. It was quickly back up and running but was loading slowly.

Interpol announced that the arrests had been made under the umbrella of Operation Unmask, which it said was launched in mid-February in the wake of a series of coordinated cyber-attacks originating from the four countries against targets including the Colombian defence ministry and presidential websites, a Chilean electricity company and Chile's national library.

It added that the operation was carried out by authorities in the four countries under the aegis of Interpol's Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology (IT) Crime, which facilitates the sharing of intelligence between the states involved.