Because McDonalds dares to list Taiwan as a separate country, a Chinese hacker got into the fast-food titan’s computer system and altered its homepage.
The Chinese-language Web site of fast food giant McDonald’s Corp. was broken into twice on Christmas by a hacker protesting against its listing of Taiwan as a separate country, the Beijing Youth Daily said Monday…
McDonald’s English-language home page features a sign saying “I’m going to McDonald’s” pointing at a drop-down menu listing China and Taiwan as separate “country/market” identities…
On Christmas night, the McDonald’s Chinese home page was turned into a black-and-white picture of a skull bearing the words “protest McDonald’s official Web site listing Taiwan as a country,” the newspaper said.
On top of the skull were the English words “Chinese hacker.”
Kind of goofy, don’t you think? I mean, most multinational sites list Taiwan as a separate country. This hacker is going to find himself very busy if he tries to protest them all.
1
By keir
Have to go with McDick’s on this, but having lived in Northern Ireland I can only say that I understand what it means to feel particularly sensitive about outsiders’ imposing their views of one’s national borders. Luckily however, this “Chinese hacker” probably doesn’t subscribe to any paramilitary outfit and will limit himself to hacking rather than bombing. And anyone who gives it to the clown is a hero in my book.
December 27, 2004 @ 6:54 pm | Comment
2
By richard
I hate McDonalds with a passion, so I’m not that unhappy about this, either. It’s just such a funny reaction — so many sites list Taiwan as a separate country (like every airplane reservation site).
December 27, 2004 @ 7:09 pm | Comment
3
By David
Heh. It seems it has been hacked again – if you go to http://www.mcdonalds.com.cn it’s got a new hacked page up. Seems the hackers are persistent (and the McD China IT department is incompetent).
December 27, 2004 @ 8:47 pm | Comment
4
By eswn
in case anyone wants to see the hacked page, here is a screen capture:
http://67.19.195.220/hacker.jpg
December 27, 2004 @ 10:33 pm | Comment
5
By Sam_S
OT, but a fantastic article on the growth struggles of the rule of law in China courts just popped up in the Wapo. Great story, and almost enough to give you hope. Catch it before it falls into the archives.
December 28, 2004 @ 5:08 am | Comment
6
By ACB
yea yea it might be funny because we all hate big fast food companies with a pasion, but wait till these loons start hacking pro Taiwanese blogs.
Don’t encourage these guys, before long their going to target free press sites and blogs that protest other things that China does to people.
Saying that this is all right is like saying that its all right to comit arson if they guy who’s tool shed they set fire to was a sex offender.
December 28, 2004 @ 5:19 am | Comment
7
By rottentomato
MC deserves it. if you wanna make more profit, please your customers first.
December 29, 2004 @ 2:21 am | Comment
8
By miss-information.net
Le site chinois de McDo hacké
Le quotidien Beijing Youth Daily a rapporté que le site Internet chinois de Mc Donald’s avait été hacké deux fois le jour de Noël. Le hacker voulait ainsi protester contre le fait que McDo indique que Taïwan est un pays séparé de la Chine.
December 29, 2004 @ 3:28 am | Comment