Muslim Hacktivists Launch DDOS Attacks on Australian Institutions over “Shameful Demonstration” of Religious Texts
Dozens of Australian institutions and enterprises were hit by Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks carried out by Muslim hacktivist groups in response to a “shameful demonstration” of religious texts during a fashion show in Melbourne. Not a Man’s Dream, an Australian fashion house, faced criticism for featuring Arabic text on their clothes during the fashion festival in Melbourne. Outraged members of the public and Muslim groups demanded an apology and expressed their grievances on the internet. The organizers of the festival and the fashion house apologized, but the Muslim hacktivist groups responded by launching the DDOS attacks for dozens of Australian organizations.
IB company Radware has reported that the religiously motivated attacks were carried out by groups of Muslim hackers, such as Team Insane PK, Eagle Cyber, and Mysterious Team. At least 70 Australian sites were targeted, including state institutions, ports, banks, and other private enterprises. According to Radware, the DDOS attacks first affected the fashion house’s website and then spread to other organizations. The Mysterious Team group claimed to have disabled the Australian police and emergency medical service, while the Team Insane group targeted IBM Bank and Bank of Sydney.
The attacks were carried out under the tags “#opaustralia” and “#PSJENTIK”. The posts under the tags claim that Muslim hacktivists have good connections and influence and are religiously motivated. They also mentioned the #opindia operation and many other campaigns attributed to the groups. The reason for the attacks and online outrage was that some clothing items featuring the Arabic inscription “Allah walks with me” were seen as transparent and frank. Blogger Mona Khalifa, who was present at the event, criticized the “shameful show” on Tiktok and Instagram.
The Melbourne Festival of Fashion apologized for the “insult caused,” deleted photographs of designers from their channels, and took measures to prevent such incidents in the future. Samantha St. James, the founder of Not a Man’s Dream, also apologized for the event. However, the DDOS attacks by the Muslim hacktivists suggest that the online backlash will need to be taken seriously by other organizations in Australia and elsewhere.
Note: META (Instagram and Facebook) is recognized as an extremist organization, and their activities are prohibited in the Russian Federation.