Myanmar Attacks – Political Protection

In July 2008, the websites of the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and New Delhi-based Mizzima News were hit by DDoS attacks that shut down their websites for several days. In August two community forums, Mystery Zillion and Planet Myanmar, were disabled and shut down and on September 17, The Irrawaddy, DVB and the Bangkok-based New Era Journal also experienced similar attacks.

It is thought that these concerted attacks were coordinated by the Burmese government in anticipation of the first anniversary of The Saffron Uprising – a peaceful protest by Buddhist monks, nuns, and students against an oppressive military regime. The websites were all known to support the monks. The attacks all appeared to mainly originate from China and Russia, the main diplomatic backers of the junta (military-led government) and where it has been suggested the junta have been receiving technical training.