TUNIS: After a weekend cyberattack, customers of Tunisie Telecom were sent a push notification through the operator's app denouncing the political and economic situation in the North African country.
The message, shared on social media and by the press, was titled A Cry for Tunisia: Freedom Is Not a Crime, and condemned a "clear rollback of freedoms" and "a suffocating economic crisis".
"Promises and slogans, but to what end?" it asked.
Tunisian and international NGOs have denounced a backsliding on human rights and freedoms in Tunisia since a power grab in July 2021 by President Kais Saied, after which he granted himself extensive powers.
After the hack, many surprised Tunisians immediately shared screenshots of the message on Facebook.
The telecommunications operator initially published a statement mentioning only maintenance work on the app.
However, it then acknowledged the attack in a second statement issued overnight Saturday-Sunday.
"Tunisie Telecom confirms that its MyTT digital application was the target of a cyberattack today, which was immediately detected and successfully neutralised in record time thanks to the protection and monitoring mechanisms in place, without any impact on data security or service continuity," the operator wrote.
"Tunisie Telecom stresses that the notification received by some customers is unrelated to the company's activities or to the objectives of this purely commercial application, designed above all to serve our customers," it added. – AFP
