"Access to Abe’s personal website is indeed limited. We do not have information on whether the attack was actually committed by the Anonymous group of hackers," Suga said.
He said law enforcement officials were assessing the extent of the damage from the cyberattack, followed by "appropriate measures" taken by authorities.
"There has been no specification from Anonymous," Suga specified.
A Twitter account purported to be associated with the collective indicated the online attack was carried out due to Japan’s resumption of whale hunting on December 1.
The Japanese Fisheries Agency made the move despite a UN International Court of Justice ruling in March 2014 to stop the country’s whaling research program.
Commercial whaling has been banned across the world for nearly three decades. The International Whaling Commission allows hunting and killing whales for scientific research purposes, a loophole Japan has been exploiting for decades.
