EGYPT: Cyber war among possible presidential candidates

Source: Nasry Esmat, Los Angeles Times.

Egypt’s political cyber war is intensifying after hackers played havoc with the Facebook page of Gamal Mubarak, the son of President Hosni Mubarak and a possible presidential contender in 2011.

The hackers posted a new group photo of Gamal with a red X running through his face and a message in Arabic: “You are not welcome, neither is your father.” The photo was inserted over the original, which featured no X and carried the slogan, “Yes for Gamal Mubarak.”

Hacking into the Facebook page of a high-ranking National Democratic Party official, not to mention the president’s son, is a new chapter in the cyber battles between the anticipated candidates in the upcoming presidential elections. The attack on Gamal Mubarak’s page, which has 4,000 members, came a few days after supporters launched a campaign urging him to run.