The Computer Association of Nepal (CAN) and Internet Service Provider Association of Nepal (ISPAN) have lashed out at a group of Nepali hackers who have attacked servers, disrupting internet services and threatening privacy.

The group, which calls itself YSGNET is this time targetting Mercantile, Nepal's largest ISP which takes care of 50 percent of the bandwidth in Nepal, handles the "np" domain, and provides internet services across the country and satellite links to remote areas.

One of the hackers, Surose Joshi, had been jailed last year for five days accused of hacking into Wlink's servers, and is currently out on bail. YSGNET claimed it can bring internet services to a halt, warned it can hit confidential data. The reason: they say they "want to be taken seriously".

"This is tantamount to a gang of thieves overcoming the security of at a bank making copies of sensitive information, vandalising the rooms, disrupting normal operations," CAN and ISPAN said in a statement this week. "This is cyber-terrorism pure and simple."

One ISP handler told us that if the hackers go unpunished there is a potential for servers belonging to the security forces, banks, sensitive data in corporate and personal accounts being seriously compromised. "The authorities have to take care of this problem before it becomes any bigger," he added. The hacker group says its "Trap the Cat II" campaign will terminate on Friday, but warn that they will keep exposing breaches.