Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that one of Abe's websites became inaccessible² early on Thursday and police were investigating. The site was restored by the evening.

 

Suga acknowledged that the Anonymous³ hacker⁴ group has posted a Twitter message claiming responsibility, but added authorities had not singled out the group as a prime suspect.

 

One of the group's Twitter messages posted earlier on Thursday criticized Japan over its whaling plans, and warned that Abe's website would be brought down.

 

"@AbeShinzo whaling is not cultural right! Your website is #TangoDown!" the message said. The group has also retweeted anti-whaling messages and one urging Abe not to eat whale meat.

 

The incident on Abe's site is the latest in a series of recent attacks on Japanese websites. The group has said they were responsible for dozens of earlier attacks.

 

The group most likely chose Abe's site "to get public attention and spread their message against dolphin and whale hunts, rather than causing a real damage," said Nobuhiro Tsuji, a cybersecurity expert at Softbank Technology Corp. "They think bringing down the prime minister's website could cause an impact."

 

Japan, despite protests from anti-whaling groups, last week resumed its annual Antarctic whale hunt, which it says is done for research, under a revised plan after the International Court of Justice found its earlier program unscientific.

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