Anonymous-Linked Group Hacks Japan’s Financial Agencies’ Websites In Whaling Protest

An Anonymous-linked group of hackers infiltrated several Japanese finance agencies' websites early Wednesday to protest the country’s whale hunting, Bloomberg reported. Japan External Trade Organization’s website was down for several users while websites for Japan’s National Tax Agency and Japan Securities Finance Co.’s site stopped working.

An anonymous Twitter user claiming to be affiliated with the hacking group Anonymous claimed responsibility for the website crashes. According to Bloomberg, the user said on Twitter that the latest attacks mostly targeted the Japanese government and "their wallets because money is what they care about." The unidentified person also threatened more such attacks.

The hacking follows attacks on Japanese companies and government institutions, including those of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Services Agency and Nissan Motor Co. Anonymous has been protesting Japan’s whaling project, which in March 2014 was declared devoid of any scientific value by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, in December 2015, Japan began a new whaling program with the objective to hunt 3,000 Antarctic minke whales over the next 10 years.

Scientists from Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the U.S., have argued that non-lethal scientific research can also yield fruitful results similar to those that call for the animal's killing.

Last month, the group of hackers targeted Nissan as part of their attacks on Japanese organizations. Dion Corbett, a spokesman for Nissan, confirmed to Bloomberg that the company’s website was inaccessible to the public and also said that Nissan had no connection with whale hunting.