Pentagon confirms 'nuisance' cyberattacks

BY BOB BREWIN ([email protected])

The Pentagon identified what it called "nuisance-level" attacks against its World Wide Web sites that resemble the attacks by Chinese hackers against sites operated by the departments of Energy and Interior earlier this week.

In response to a query from FCW about any Chinese attacks against DOD Web sites, a spokeswoman for the Defense Information Agency's Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense said, "We're aware of the activities you mention. The JTF-CND has only a few isolated reports of activities across DOD which might be attributed to these sources. The damage has been at the 'nuisance level' with no operational impact or effect."

The spokeswoman added that the JTF-CND would take action only when such attacks would have a "widespread effect" on the Defense Information Infrastructure, which comprises global DOD networks and information systems, or when such attacks are spread broadly across network or information systems operated by more than one of the services.

According to nongovernment network security experts, Chinese hackers launched Web attacks earlier this week in response to the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

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