Internet under attack on election day in Belarus

On 19 March 2006, date of the presidential elections in Belarus, the
major online independent news resources (svaboda.org, charter97.org,
belapan.com, ucpb.org, naviny.by, kozylin.com, zubr-belarus.com) were the
targets of various types of attacks.

The Website of “Nasha Niva” newspaper was not available from Belarus on 18
March on the Internet. Other problems were spotted in accessing tut.by, a
major Belarusian portal with about 60 000 visitors/day.

Also, Milinkievich’s (candidate from Unified Democratic Forces) official
website was unavailable for 2 days starting on 19 March. According with
website administrators, they lost control over the server.

Charter97 press-centre websites were permanently attacked. Authorities not
only used their usual techniques (IP address blocking, massive DoS attacks)
but Internet filtering as well. As a result a number of websites were
unavailable from Belarus.

Belarus has a large system put in place in order to restrict Internet access
and control unwanted content. Some laws make it illegal to publish
information that is contrary to state interests. ISPs from Belarus have to
buy their connectivity from the telecom monopoly company.

Internet Filtering in Belarus (20.03.2006)
http://www.e-belarus.org/news/200603201.html

OpenNet Initiative to Monitor Internet during the Belarus Presidential
Elections (17.03.2006)
http://www.opennetinitiative.net/blog/?p=92

Charter ’97 – Milinkevich’s official web site broken open (19.03.2006)
http://67.18.131.22/eng/news/2006/03/19/mil

(Thanks to Mikhail Doroshevich – E-belarus.org)