Anonymous attacks Greek ministry website to protest country's signing of copyright treaty

Athens - Notorious Internet hacking group Anonymous has launched a cyber-attack on the Greek Ministry of Justice website and threatened further action if Athens does not withdraw its decision to sign a global copyright treaty.

The hack came as a protest against the Greek government's signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is designed to reduce Internet piracy.

In a message left on the Greek Justice Ministry's website, Anonymous threatened to take down 'all the media in Greece' unless the government retracts its support for the global treaty, The Daily Mail reports.

"We know EVERYTHING, We have your PASSWORDS , We are watching YOU. Next target will be all the media in Greece. ( ertTV , etc ) We have most of the media websites admin passwords. We are Legion . This is JUST the BEGINNING," the hacker group wrote.

"You have 2 weeks to stop ACTA in Greece otherwhise we will do CYBERWARFARE by defacing 300 sites and all the media and ministries," it added.

According to the report, the ministry website was briefly listed as 'under construction' following the attack.

The ACTA treaty, the controversial deal that sparked the hack, was signed by 22 European Union states in Tokyo on 26 January.

It is a voluntary agreement intended to obstruct counterfeiting of both physical goods and online property, but was widely condemned by critics who believe it will lead to Internet censorship.

Meanwhile, Greek police said via Twitter that their cyber-crime division had already begun an investigation into the Ministry of Justice attack.