Turkey responded to the hacking group Anonymous with 32 arrests following attacks on government websites, according to the country's state-run news agency. Turkey responded to the hacking group Anonymous with 32 arrests following attacks on government websites, according to the country’s state-run news agency.The Anadolu Agency wrote the alleged Anonymous members were arrested in 12 cities, including Ankara and Istanbul.Turkey is the latest country to make arrests connected with Anonymous, a decentralized group of activists who conduct distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDOS) against organizations and businesses that the group opposes. The attacks seek to make websites unavailable.On Friday, Spain said it concluded its first policing action against Anonymous, arresting three people who allegedly directed DDOS attacks on banks, government websites and companies including Sony. Also on Friday, Anonymous said through its website, AnonOps Communications, that its attacks against Turkish government websites were in protest of “plans to implement a filter on Internet browsing” in August. Activists took to the streets in 30 cities in Turkey in May to protest the plans.“Over the last few years, we have witnessed the censorship taken by the Turkish government, such as blocking YouTube, Rapidshare, Fileserve and thousands of other websites,” according to the statement. “Most recently, the government banned access to Google services. These acts of censorship are inexcusable.” Anonymous said the strikes will be executed using the Low Orbit Ion Cannon, an easy-to-use tool for DDOS attacks but one that security experts has said is not difficult for law enforcement to trace who is using it.Targets included Turkey’s telecommunications directorate, which appeared to be offline on Monday morning, and the country’s social security institution, Anonymous wrote.On Saturday, Anonymous wrote that it had retaliated against Spanish police by launching what it said was a successful DDOS against that organization’s website for several hours. The site, however, was functioning on Monday morning.Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com Related content news UK Cyber Security Council CEO reflects on a year of progress Professor Simon Hepburn sits down with broadcaster ITN to discuss Council’s work around cybersecurity professional standards, careers and learning, and outreach and diversity. By Michael Hill Sep 27, 2023 3 mins Government Government Government news FIDO Alliance certifies security of edge nodes, IoT devices Certification demonstrates that products are at low risk of cyberthreats and will interoperate securely. By Michael Hill Sep 27, 2023 3 mins Certifications Internet Security Security Hardware news analysis Web app, API attacks surge as cybercriminals target financial services The financial services sector has also experienced an increase in Layer 3 and Layer 4 DDoS attacks. By Michael Hill Sep 27, 2023 6 mins Financial Services Industry Cyberattacks Application Security news Immersive Labs adds custom 'workforce exercising' for each organizational role With the new workforce exercising capability, CISOs will be able to see each role’s cybersecurity readiness, risk areas, and exercise progress. By Shweta Sharma Sep 27, 2023 3 mins Security Software Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe