RANGOON — The Irrawaddy’s Burmese language website was hacked for a second time in recent days, with a falsified news story posted on the site by unknown hackers on Monday morning.
The fabricated story concerned the health of Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, claiming the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairwoman had ovarian cancer and quoting her doctor.
The forged article appeared designed to discredit the NLD leader, casting invented dispersions over relationships between Suu Kyi and other male members of her party.
The Irrawaddy’s Burmese website was also hacked on Friday, leaving it inaccessible for several hours.
While the hackers’ motives are unknown, the cyber attack comes at a time of heightened political tensions in the country, four weeks out from a Nov. 8 general election.
The Irrawaddy’s Burmese and English websites have been hacked multiple times in the past. Last October, hackers referring to themselves as the “Blink Hacker Group” replaced the English site’s homepage with a message accusing the independent publication of supporting radical Muslims.
