Ministry of Planning

Summary

Anonymous hackers affiliated with the Egyptian branch of the collective targeted multiple Egyptian government websites, including the Ministry of Planning, in a coordinated cyber attack. The group Anonymous Rabaa claimed responsibility, defacing sites with protest messages referencing human rights abuses and the Rabaa square killings, causing temporary disruptions but no major system or data compromise. The attacks were framed as acts of solidarity with victims of state violence, with hackers denying ties to banned Islamist groups while demanding accountability for past crackdowns.

Motives

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TTPs

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Description

On October 24, 2015, the Egyptian branch of the hacktivist collective Anonymous launched coordinated cyber attacks against multiple Egyptian government websites, including the presidency, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Tourism, Supreme Council of Press, Center for Information and Decision Support, Egyptian Information Portal, Egyptian Observatory site, and National Planning Institute. The attacks occurred on October 22, 2015, when hackers compromised the main pages of these websites, causing temporary outages. Egyptian Cabinet spokesperson Hossam al-Qawish confirmed the presidency website experienced a brief intrusion lasting several minutes, emphasizing that only front-end pages were affected without penetration of core systems or data theft. Parallel attacks targeted the Cabinet Decision Support Center (IDSC), prompting technical teams to temporarily shut down the site as a containment measure. Attackers posted proof of compromise on Zone-H archive and their official Facebook page, displaying defaced pages featuring political messages and the four-fingered Rabaa salute symbolizing protest against the 2013 Rabaa Square massacre.

The operation, claimed by "Anonymous Rabaa," explicitly linked the attacks to demands for justice for victims of state violence during the 2013 Rabaa Square dispersals and other crackdowns. Hackers released screenshots and video footage documenting alleged human rights abuses while denying affiliation with Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood, positioning themselves as independent defenders of protest victims. This incident followed their August 2015 defacement of Cairo Airport's website marking the Rabaa massacre's anniversary. The Egyptian government maintained normal operations despite temporary website disruptions, with al-Qawish downplaying technical impacts as superficial. At publication time, all targeted sites including the presidency remained offline as a precautionary measure, reflecting ongoing tensions between authorities and groups opposing post-2013 political repression under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's administration.

Sources

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