Members of hacktivist group Anonymous have claimed credit for taking down 10 Queensland government websites earlier this week in response to proposed changes to data retention laws currently under discussion by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS). The PJCIS inquiry is considering reform proposals for telecommunications interception, telecommunications sector security and Australian intelligence community legislation. One of the proposals includes “tailored data retention periods for up to two years for parts of a data set”, with every internet users’ entire Web history logged and stored for up to two years. According to a blog posting entitled Par:AnoIA Queensland, members of the group used an authentication bypass to loot some “booty” from Queensland government servers which, according to Anonymous, showed how the Australian government was monitoring citizen’s activity online. Acording to a Twitter account called OperationAustralia, the attacks began on 21 July. The latest message reads: “Be Prepared Australia! Something BIG is heading your way.” Previous messages listed the websites attacked and also requested a chat with Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, about the proposed data retention laws. The defacement message posted on the Queensland government websites which were taken down read: “Welcome Australian Boys and Girls. You may have heard about the proposed National Security changes: You probably don’t like them: We certaintly don’t.” “Do you like the idea of surrending your passwords or people spying on your Twitter or Facebook account? Nope, we didn’t think you did.” “Your government seems to think everybody in Australia is a terrorist. Do you still want to believe in your paranoid leaders? If we were Australia, we sure wouldn’t.” The original message can be found at Gizmodo. The websites, which have now been restored, included: sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au regions.qld.gov.au sd.qld.gov.au dtrdi.qld.gov.au science.qld.gov.au createitmakeitliveit.qld.gov.au smartawards.qld.gov tourism.industry.qld.gov.au workliveplay.qld.gov.au lib.qld.gov.au Follow CIO Australia on Twitter: @CIO_Australia Related content feature 10 most popular IT certifications for 2023 Certifications are a great way to show employers you have the right IT skills and specializations for the job. These 10 certs are the ones IT pros are most likely to pursue, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White May 26, 2023 8 mins Certifications Careers interview Stepping up to the challenge of a global conglomerate CIO role Dr. Amrut Urkude became CIO of Reliance Polyester after his company was acquired by Reliance Industries. He discusses challenges IT leaders face while transitioning from a small company to a large multinational enterprise, and how to overcome them. By Yashvendra Singh May 26, 2023 7 mins Digital Transformation Careers brandpost With the new financial year looming, now is a good time to review your Microsoft 365 licenses By Veronica Lew May 25, 2023 5 mins Lenovo news Alteryx works in generative AI for speedy analytics results OpenAI integration and AI wizardry for report generation are aimed at making Alteryx’s analytics products more accessible. By Jon Gold May 25, 2023 3 mins Analytics Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe