'Cyber-racism': UK Black History Month website attacked

The UK Black History Month website has been brought down by hackers for a second time in 24 hours in what its editors believe to be a case of “cyber-racism”.

The website, which includes resources for schools and details of forthcoming events, first fell prey to a cyber-attack at 8.45am on Monday. Its IT team worked through the night and the site came back online on Tuesday morning, but was attacked again. It was again restored on Tuesday afternoon, but the website’s editors warned that further attacks were possible.

Patrick Vernon, the editor of Black History Month magazine, said the initial attack was tracked to an IP address in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. He said: “Our website is the most popular in the UK on black history. I think it was done deliberately to ensure the content’s not available or accessible. I believe as a result of the Windrush scandal, there’s been a real interest in black history.