Hackers unleash `cyberwar' over action against Assange

Hackers supporting WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange have unleashed a "cyberwar" in which they have already targeted Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Swiss bank PostFinance and even the Swedish government.

An army of computer hackers is also planning to bring down British government websites if Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is extradited to Sweden.

The 1,500-strong network of online activists has already sabotaged the websites of MasterCard, Visa and the Swedish government with millions of bogus visits. The attacks, termed 'operation payback', came after the credit card companies and online payment firm PayPal announced that they would no longer process donations to the anti-secrecy organisation.

Considering that the action seems to be very well coordinated globally with hackers from all parts of the world from Chile to Norway to New Zealand joining in, the "cyberwar" appears to be a truly global initiative say analysts.

According to Gregg Housh, an unofficial spokesman for the loosely knit "hactivist" group, Anonymous, the fact that it is so global is just a sign of the times. This type of operation has no borders he says.

The worldwide group has launched "Operation Payback" to hit back at companies that no longer extend support to WikiLeaks or its beleaguered founder Julian Assage. The next target for the "hactivists" is Amazon.com, according to the Twitter feed for "Operation Payback."