Anonymous, the secretive internet activist group, hacked the website of the justice ministry on Friday morning, posting a video and text calling for the government “to stop ACTA [Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement] in Greece” within a fortnight.

If this was not done, the message from Anonymous continued, “we will do cyberwarfare by defacing 300 sites and all the media and ebsites” [sic].

On January 26, the EU and 22 member states (including Greece) signed ACTA, which seeks to protect international property rights, but final ratification requires the approval of national partliaments.

The hacking occured around 5.21am and the Anonymous version was still online at around 8am, when it was taken down. A cached version of the defaced website is available here and a screengrab here.

At around 9.21, the police tweeted that its cybercrime unit was investigating the hacking and was "following the electronic traces left by the hackers".

The video (see below) posted by the group, which was originally uploaded to YouTube on January 31 by a user called DreamerAnon, showed a figure wearing a stylised Guy Fawkes mask reading a statement.

The figure, who speaks in synthetic-sounding voice, attacked the government, saying it had "derogatorily failed" to act on behalf of the poeple and express their wishes.

"You have killed the most sacred element your country had and that is democracy. Democracy was given birth in your country but you have now killed it. What an irony!" the figure said.

"You have joined the IMF against your people's acquiescence. You have so introduced a new dictatorship upon your people's shoulders and allowed the bankers and the monarchs of the EU to enslave them both economically and politically."

The cyberactivists, who described themselves as "Anonymous members from Greece and Cyprus", also claimed they had hacked the ministry’s main email address and provided the password to it.

“We are legion, this is just the beginning,” says the group, who say the hacking is part of “day of action” on February 3.

On January 27, a Twitter user, @Nothing_DDOS, identified the websites of the foreign and justice ministries as a "target".

Full text of the statement read out on the Anonymous video posted on the justice ministry website:


Greetings Greece. We are Anonymous.

What is going on in your country is unacceptable. You were chosen by your people to act on behalf of them and express their wishes, but you have derogatorily failed. You have killed the most sacred element your country had and that is democracy. Democracy was given birth in your country but you have now killed it. What an irony! Your own people hate you and you stare at them doing nothing to prevent that. You have joined the IMF against your people's acquiescence. You have so introduced a new dictatorship upon your people's shoulders and allowed the bankers and the monarchs of the EU to enslave them both economically and politically. They pay their government's mistakes heavily and you made foreign people hate them for something they are not responsible for. What a shame! Police is taking advantage of its powers and attacks people who demonstrate in order for justice to be done. They demonstrate against you but you do not want their voices to be heard. You deprive them from their right of freedom of expression and of their right to live. Your arbitrary actions must be punished. By signing the ACTA bill you are going to deprive your people from further freedom and you are pushing them one step towards oppression. You ignored our warnings and now WE ARE IN CHARGE!

We are Anonymous

We are Legion

We do not forgive

We do not forget

You should have Expected us!

People should not be afraid of their governments.

It's governments that should be afraid of their people.