Issues with World Youth Day's official website are due to hacking attempts, the event's press office announced Aug. 19.
While
Pope Benedict XVI ate lunch with 12 youth from around the world, the
press office issued a statement explaining that “out of respect for the
millions of people who are following us around the world and the 4,900
accredited communication professionals at WYD, we believe it is
necessary to inform the public about this hacking attempt.”
The organizers said they regret “any distress caused” and confirmed they are working to resolve the issue.
The official site can be viewed at: www.madrid11.com
“WYD
is also grateful for all the support that it continues to receive from
the overwhelming majority of Spanish people and people worldwide, who
share with us the desire of freedom for all, always through peaceful and
respectful means.”
The website began experiencing problems on
Aug. 15, when organizers confirmed that the site was being relentlessly
attacked.
Although technicians were successful in preventing the
destruction or modification of the content, they were not able to stop
several “Denial of Service” (DOS) attacks, which took temporarily down
the site on several occasions.
The delivery of electronic press releases to journalists has also been affected.
“While we recover the normal functioning of the website, we invite you to continue the conversation through our news aggregator www.somos.madrid11.com,” organizers said.