by Patrick Appel
One of the largest mobile providers operating in Egypt says the regime of Hosni Mubarak sent unattributed pro-regime text messages out over its network. And it’s not happy about the hack.
In a statement, Vodafone confirms that “since the start of the protests,” the regime has used emergency authorities to send “messages to the people of Egypt.” Rival providers Mobinil and Etisalat are subject to the same authority. None of the messages are “scripted by any of the mobile network operators and we do not have the ability to respond to the authorities on their content.”
Mackey has more:
The translations of the texts also appear to suggest that different messages were sent to different phones, perhaps indicating that the Egyptian government has specific information on each mobile owner. One message, apparently sent to suspected protesters, reads: "Youth of Egypt, beware rumors and listen to the sound of reason - Egypt is above all so preserve it."
Another message, seeking to rally regime supporters, read: "The Armed Forces asks Egypt's honest and loyal men to confront the traitors and criminals and protect our people and honor and our precious Egypt."
Gallery of text messages here.