/ 16 February 2006

Oops, I’m sorry we hacked your server

Hungary’s main opposition party, Fidesz, said on Thursday that it had made a “serious mistake” in hacking into the server of the governing Socialist party ahead of the April general elections.

“Whichever one of our enthusiastic staff did this committed a serious mistake, but the world will not come to an end,” Fidesz campaign chief Antal Rogan told Hungarian public television on Thursday, quoted by MTI national news agency.

The Socialists on Tuesday charged Fidesz with having committed “burglary” for having downloaded nearly 3 000 items of campaign material from its password-protected server.

The Socialists said the illegal entry into their server was registered on February 3 and the IP (internet protocol) address was identified as that of the Fidesz party server.

Socialist President Istvan Hiller on Thursday said he wanted to discuss the matter with Fidesz leader Viktor Orban, a former prime minister who is once again his party’s candidate for the country’s top job.

The police have launched an investigation into the incident.

The Socialists and Fidesz are in a dead heat ahead of the poll which is scheduled for April 9 and 23, the first time voters in the central European country will choose a Parliament since joining the European Union in 2004. – AFP