They want to put pressure on policy makers by attacking sensitive computer servers.
A group of hackers, acting under the banner SiegedSec, claimed on Sunday to have hacked the databases of the states of Kentucky and Arkansas, two American territories where abortion is illegal.
A very direct way to protest Friday's decision of the United States Supreme Court and potentially deter other local governments from taking action.
By revoking its emblematic decision “Roe v.
Wade”, which since 1973 guaranteed the right of American women to have an abortion, the High Court leaves the States the choice of whether or not to ban abortion in a deeply divided country.
Clinics in Missouri, South Dakota or Georgia, among others, immediately closed.
Read alsoAbortion: how the resistance is organized in the United States after the blow struck by the Supreme Court
The hackers stole and downloaded nearly 8 GB of the data available in self-service, via a link on the Telegram encrypted messaging service.
Arkansas data is for landowners.
More problematic, the files siphoned off from Kentucky's servers include personal information about employees of the state in the southern United States.
The hackers claimed responsibility for their actions on Telegram.
The claim of the “hacktivists” ends with a clear message: “The attacks will continue.
Our main targets are all organizations against abortion, which includes all servers in states that have anti-abortion legislation.
"This is only the beginning as activists are still organizing online and this is only a first step to attract attention and mobilize other hackers", analyzes Sergey Shykevich, head of intelligence on threats at Check Point Software.
"Even if they did not steal sensitive information, the claim has more weight than the loot because there is also a backdrop of competition between groups of hackers who like to mobilize on social issues" , he judges.
Activist hackers had already mobilized last September during #OperationJane against a Texas law that limited the legal time limit for having an abortion.
Within hours Friday, at least eight states immediately made all abortions illegal.
The attack surface of pro-abortion hackers will continue to grow.
