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  Hacks will continue, group says Perils of moonlighting as a hacker White House Web site shut down  Weigh in on the attack on the FBI site |
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THE WEB ONSLAUGHT began May 26, after FBI agents served search warrants on members of the hacker community in Washington state, Texas, California and other areas of the country. The raids — which were aimed at gathering evidence related to past computer intrusions as well as unauthorized use of telephone systems — sparked attacks that forced the shutdown of the FBI and U.S. Senate Web sites. After beefing up security, the Senate site was put back in service over the Memorial Day weekend, and the FBI site was restored June 4 — more than a week after it was shut down. FBI spokeswoman Debbie Weierman said users would notice only a “few changes” in the site. She declined to say anything further about the bureau’s investigation into computer intrusions — except that the investigation was continuing. Hackers briefly controlled the BNL Web site on June 2, according to a spokesperson, substituting a political message blaming corporate America for last week’s FBI raids. The site was down from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET June 2, according to the spokesperson. The attack came just two weeks after Brookhaven’s director, John Marburger, announced stricter security guidelines for the research lab — part of a wider effort by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson to tighten security at all of the agency’s laboratories after recent revelations that a Chinese-American scientist is suspected of passing computerized nuclear weapons secrets to Beijing. All week, scores of protest pages have rudely taunted the FBI, and government officials laid down the law at several news briefings Tuesday. “Cyber-security is something the government takes very seriously,” White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said in response to a reporter’s question. “I know that there have been a series of attempts (to break into government computers) with some success, some without success. ... We take it very seriously. We are constantly reviewing and will continue to review the security measures we have.” Last month, a group known as Global Hell, or gH, was implicated in attacks on the White House Web site as well as sites for several Cabinet departments and the U.S. Information Agency. Also last month, Global Hell member Eric Burns, who also goes by the name Zyklon, was indicted in connection with attacks on three computers, including the USIA system.   White House Web site shut downLockhart emphasized that those implicated in the latest wave of attacks were liable to face a similar fate. “For those who think that this is some sort of sport, I think (it will be) less fun when the authorities do catch up with them ... and these people are prosecuted,” he said. At another briefing, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said system administrators were briefly limiting Web access Tuesday so they could beef up security. He said such measures would make it “much more difficult” to deface Pentagon Web pages. “It has not been a major problem,” Bacon said. “This is much more protective than reactive. It’s looking to the future to prevent the types of problems (seen) at other agencies.” Federal law-enforcement officials emphasized the harsh criminal penalties that Web intruders could face: Attackers who cause $5,000 worth of damage in one year could be charged with a federal felony that carries up to five years in prison, the head of the Justice Department’s computer crime section, Scott Charney, told The Associated Press. Merely gaining unauthorized access to a government computer could bring a year in jail, but Charney pointed out that the cost of fixing a compromised Web site could mount to $5,000 in employee time alone. A Dallas telecommunications company suffered a considerable loss — perhaps ranging into millions of dollars — because of intrusions that are the subject of the FBI’s current investigation, bureau spokesman Frank Scafidi said. “What we investigate are violations of law,” he told MSNBC. “If a hacker feels that our investigating somebody’s illegal activity is somehow an infringement on that individual’s freedom to do what he wants to do, then there is a basic misunderstanding of the way this country works.” Scafidi said there was “no intention on our part to select a group of people and pick on them. ... They get the first move in this game.” But he also indicated that the justice system intended to have the last word. “When there is a violation ... we will pursue it, and usually we will knock on somebody’s door and maybe take some computer equipment,” he said. Such equipment may have to be held for months or years, to be used as evidence in a trial or during the appeal process, he said. As for the FBI site’s down time, Scafidi said: “That isn’t affecting the FBI’s investigative response in any way. It is a problem for us in that we rely on our Web site as a place for anybody to go and get information on the FBI for any purpose ... so it is a public information resource for us, and since it has been down it has really been affecting a lot of innocent parties out there.” |
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MORE VICTIMS Tuesday’s governmental victim was the General Services Administration, which manages U.S. government property. At least three pages on the Web site for the GSA’s Office of Governmentwide Policy — www.policyworks.gov — were briefly replaced with protest pages. “Our sentence is hacking everything we can as a protest to FBI current actions,” one page read. The hacked pages were accessible for 10 to 15 minutes, said Joe McKay, director of office information systems at the Office of Governmentwide Policy. He said the attacker apparently gained access through a security gap related to file transfer protocol, or FTP. “We’ve terminated all FTP services, and I am issuing on a need-to-use basis new FTP access,” he told MSNBC. The site was working normally Tuesday night, and computer server logs were being analyzed for further clues, he said. “We’re always playing catch-up, it seems,” he said. “It’s important to show (the attackers), ‘Hey, you got us, but we’re OK now.’ ” The hacked pages claimed credit on behalf of a group called Forpaxe, including a member using the handle “M1crochip.” Similar credits appeared on hacked pages placed Tuesday on Web servers at Monash University in Australia and Coca-Cola’s Belgian subsidiary, as well as a page that briefly appeared Monday at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab’s Web site. The hacked pages indicated that M1crochip lived in Portugal — which others in the hacker community confirmed. Another computer user said to be involved in the current wave of Web attacks reportedly lived in Britain. BACKGROUND ON THE FBI RAIDS Members of Global Hell reported that law-enforcement officials served search warrants last Wednesday in Texas, California and Washington state. AntiOnline, a Web site focusing on the hacker community, indicated that the sweep extended to other states as well. One of the subjects of the search warrants was a contractor working at Microsoft, which is a partner in the joint venture that operates MSNBC. When contacted by MSNBC, the contractor — who uses the online handle “VallaH” — confirmed that nine law-enforcement agents served him with a warrant at his Seattle-area apartment, interrogated him and confiscated computer equipment. He said he was not involved in any illegal activity and surmised that he was implicated by a former associate in the hacker community. FBI agents also contacted Microsoft, said company spokesman Adam Sohn. “This is an active investigation, and there’s not a lot we can say,” Sohn said Monday. “It’s an FBI matter, it’s not a Microsoft matter.” He indicated that FBI agents were interested in computer equipment that VallaH used at Microsoft. “As far as I have been told, we are still in possession of the property. However, we’re cooperating with the FBI in the investigation,” Sohn said. VallaH said he was told not to report for work at Microsoft. “We did ask that his assignment at Microsoft be terminated. I don’t know what his status is with his contracting agency,” Sohn said. MEANWHILE, IN HOUSTON ... In Houston, FBI spokesman Rolando Moss told MSNBC that agents were investigating “allegations of computer intrusions” involving, among others, a teen-ager who uses the hacker handle “Mosthated.” In telephone conversations with MSNBC, Mosthated said that his home was raided at about 6 a.m. CT Wednesday, and that family computer equipment was confiscated. He said his parents were “really mad. ... The computer had all their financial information and stuff on it.” Mosthated’s mother got on the line to read from the FBI’s receipt for the equipment and confirm that she was “really mad.” Mosthated said at least eight other people around the country had been served with search warrants as part of “a huge hacker crackdown.” Four other Houston-area hackers, three in California and one in the Seattle area reportedly received FBI visits. None was arrested, but all had computer equipment confiscated, he said. Media representatives at FBI offices in San Diego and Seattle said they could not comment on the investigation. Do you have a tip related to this story? Please send your suggestions to [email protected]. The Associated Press contributed to this report. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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