BERLIN (JTA) – Hackers disabled the websites of several right-wing extremists in Germany.
The international hackers group known as Anonymous, in what it called "Operation Blitzkrieg," struck several neo-Nazi websites on Jan. 1 with a "Happy New Year" wish to their targets, according to the German news agency DAPD.
The German-language website nazi-leaks.net published data about donors to the country’s biggest far-right political party — the National Democratic Party of Germany, with an estimated 7,000 members — and about customers of a right-wing mail-order company. In some cases the data included e-mail addresses and phone number.
Spiegel Online reported that the National Democratic Party has threatened to sue, while the publishers of a far-right paper, Junge Freiheit, already have filed charges.
The attack comes as Germany grapples with news about a violent neo-Nazi ring that operated unchecked for more than 10 years and is allegedly responsible for at least 10 murders of immigrants in Germany. It was revealed recently that German authorities knew about the cell’s activities and proclivities at least a decade ago.
While German politicians and religious leaders debate whether to ban the far-right National Democratic Party, groups such as Anonymous are testing legal boundaries with their cyber attacks. Anonymous has dealt similar blows to the Scientology organization, organized crime and drug cartels, among others.
There has been no confirmation that the lists published this week are authentic. The creators of the NaziLeaks website reportedly are planning to publish additional material.
According to news reports, some of the information already had been hacked and published early last year. Now it has been assembled at one website.
