Vatican website back up after Anonymous hit
Anonymous goes after the Catholic church in its latest attack.


The official Vatican website is back online, after an Anonymous hit took it down yesterday evening.
A statement on the Italian Anonymous website, the group said it was targeting the Vatican as it blamed the Catholic Church for egregious acts, including the burning of heretics during the Inquisition.
"Anonymous has now decided to lay siege to your site in response to the doctrines, liturgies and the precepts absurd and anachronistic that your organization is for profit (Roman Apostolic Church) propagates and spreads worldwide," the message read.
This is NOT intended to attack the true Christian religion and the faithful around the world.
"You have burned books of immense historical and literary value... have denied universally deemed valid or plausible theories.
"This is NOT intended to attack the true Christian religion and the faithful around the world."
The attack came during a busy week for Anonymous, one which saw related group LulzSec seriously hurt by charges brought by the FBI.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
It was also reported that one of the chief leaders of LulzSec, known as Sabu, was working with the FBI to uncover other members of the hacktivist group.
UK residents Ryan Ackroyd and Jake Davis were two of the five men charged.
The AntiSec movement then defaced some Panda Security sites, leaving a message aimed both at Sabu, revealed to be a male named Hector Xavier Monsegur, and at the anti-virus vendor.
Tom Brewster is currently an associate editor at Forbes and an award-winning journalist who covers cyber security, surveillance, and privacy. Starting his career at ITPro as a staff writer and working up to a senior staff writer role, Tom has been covering the tech industry for more than ten years and is considered one of the leading journalists in his specialism.
He is a proud alum of the University of Sheffield where he secured an undergraduate degree in English Literature before undertaking a certification from General Assembly in web development.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continues
News Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
By Ross Kelly
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPT
Opinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
By Ross Kelly
-
Anonymous hijacks Russian broadcasts with footage of Ukraine war
News The hacking group said it managed to manipulate the broadcasts of three major Russian state-backed media organisations
By Connor Jones
-
Anonymous hackers flood ISIS Twitter accounts with gay porn after Orlando shooting
News Hacktivists hijack pro-ISIS Twitter accounts in retaliation for Orlando massacre
By Adam Shepherd
-
Anonymous takes down Nissan in dolphin culling protest
News The hacker group launched a DDoS attack on the company's global and Japanese websites
By Clare Hopping
-
Anonymous vs ISIS: Hackers claim ISIS twitter accounts linked to DWP IP addresses
News Hacking group find link between unused UK government IP address and ISIS twitter accounts
By Adam Shepherd
-
Anonymous hacks ISIS-affiliated Facebook & Twitter accounts
News Hacking collective declares open season on social media accounts linked to Islamic extremists
By Caroline Donnelly
-
Anonymous attacks Islamic extremist website over Charlie Hebdo attack
News The hackers took down website ansar-alhaqq.net as part of #OpCharlieHebdo
By Clare Hopping
-
Majority of hidden Tor site requests lead to child abuse images
News A study has uncovered 75 per cent of hidden site traffic points to images of child sexual abuse
By Clare Hopping
-
Anonymous targets Ku Klux Klan Twitter account
News Hacking collective brand white supremacists "terrorists"
By Rene Millman