Australian fashion brand Not A Man’s Dream has stirred up a hacking backlash against domestic businesses, according to global cybersecurity firm Radware.
Muslim hacktivist groups have mobilised in response to the fashion label’s runway scandal at the Melbourne Fashion Festival, the firm's new threat advisory has claimed. Not A Man's Dream attracted criticism from sections of the community after displaying two revealing garments with the Arabic word for 'God' printed on its fabric.
According to Radware, hacktivist groups commenced teaming up against Australian institutions and businesses after the runway incident. Hacktivist crews — including Team Insane pk, Eagle Cyber, and Mysterious Team — launched a denial-of-service and website defacement campaign, targeting well over 70 Australian sites. This reportedly includes the public websites of governments, ports, banks and private businesses.
Radware director of threat intelligence Pascal Geenens claimed that the hacktivists are well connected.
“Denial-of-service has always been an important tactic for hacktivist groups, and this will not change any time soon. Any organisation, independent of size and vertical, can become a target of hacktivists as the fallout in Australia has demonstrated.”
Geenens added that there is no reason for panic, but said organisations need to be prepared.
“It is widely known in the security community that disrupting or impacting an organisation or infrastructure requires more perseverance than skills or sophistication.”
In an email to Ragtrader, Not A Man’s Dream denied any hacking activity on its website and said it did not intend to provoke, disrespect or deliberately offend the Muslim community.
"I believe in unity over separation, and I truly apoligise for any offence that was taken and any hurt that may have been caused," a spokesperson said. "Moving forward, I have decided to rework the phrase on garments. I hope that this sheds some light on everything that has occurred, and I hope that we as a community can move forward, with understanding and forgiveness.