Hackers have apparently crashed the WikiLeaks website after it accelerated publication of tens of thousands of once-secret US State Department cables on Wednesday, according to the Press Association. The leaks raised further concern in the US government about the exposure of confidential American embassy sources.
WikiLeaks announced the attack on Twitter; "WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," the tweet read, an hour later, the Wikileaks site and the US government cables posted there were inaccessible.
WikiLeaks updated its Twitter feed later in the day to say it was "still under a cyberattack" and told followers to check for the cables on a mirror site called cablegatesearch.net.
The attack raises fresh embarrassment for US government officials who had previously voiced concerns that the cables would breach the protection of government sources.
According to the Associated Press, it reviewed 2,000 of the cables, which revealed that names of 90 sources who had sought protection, and whose names the cables sought to protect.
Government officials said the disclosure over the last four days of more than 125,000 sensitive documents by WikiLeaks, has endangered informants and jeopardised US foreign policy goals.
Officials would not comment on the authenticity of the leaked documents.
WikiLeaks hit back at the criticism even as its website came under cyberattack. "Dear governments, if you don't want your filth exposed, then stop acting like pigs. Simple," the group posted on Twitter.
© ITP
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