Hackers attack lottery website

The National Lottery website was the victim of an Internet hacking stunt yesterday.

The National Lottery website was the victim of an Internet hacking stunt yesterday.

Hackers entered the site and removed all Lotto graphics and links, replacing them with a short garbled message abusing RTE and with the statement: "Go to hell you scumbags." A list of nine names such as "Orkbaby", "Qualm" and "Cleverbunny" appeared at the end.

The site was still inaccessible yesterday evening, as the National Lottery began restoring the site.

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter