Journalist Stefan J. Bos, who launched BosNewsLife last year, stressed investigations are ongoing as to "why one or more programmers" from the former Soviet Union apparently "infiltrated and brought down" the news agency’s website in November.
He said Webmaster Denis Volovik was dismissed over the affair. Volovik denied any involvement in the website’s failure and described the allegations as "completely unjustified".
But in a statement he also asked "forgiveness" as his "technical performance might be seen as a deliberate sabotage and actual harm."
"I would like to assure you [however] that there was not any purpose from my side [to bring the website down], but there might be a lack of some important skill, other than technical, that I have not yet developed," he said.
Bos maintained there was a "deliberate attack on BosNewsLife" which he claimed had been disliked by government and other officials because of investigative articles on the persecution of Christians, Jewish people and dissidents.
The news agency also received "threats" via e-mails that something might happen after carrying a critical story on the Russian Orthodox Church in Hungary, Bos said.
He stressed BosNewsLife boosted computer security and is now working with what he called "a dedicated team of specialists" to serve clients around the world.
Based in Budapest, Hungary, BosNewsLife covers stories focused on Christians and Jews living in difficult circumstances for whatever reason, including persecution, as well as other "hard hitting news" from around the world.
It wants to be a news vehicle for "compassionate professionals" including those traveling to or working in difficult areas, such as business people, aid and missionary workers, journalists "and others on an assignment for a better world."
