The hacking group Anonymous has defaced Chile's National Society of Agriculture page with a statement in support of the student protesters in Chile. According to local media (La Tercera, El Mercurio), they are also attacking the websites of the Caribineros and the Ministry of Education.



Of course, being that Anonymous is anonymous, it's unclear who exactly is behind the attack. It could be a group of international hackers trying to involve themselves in local issues. It could also be a segment of the student protesters who have adopted the global brand of Anonymous and are using it in a domestic cyber-attack as an additional form of protest.



This online addition to street protests is likely to become the norm for Latin America in the coming decade. As long as government servers are easily hacked or hit with denial of service attacks, computer-savvy protesters are going to find ways to hit the websites and draw additional attention to their cause.

--- James Bosworth is a freelance writer and consultant based in Managua, Nicaragua, who runs Bloggings by Boz.