Hackers attack federal Web sites

Hackers attack federal Web sites

ksaldarini@govexec.com

The White House shut down its Web site earlier this week after determining that hackers were trying to break into the site.

Hackers attempted to break into the White House computer system on Monday, but Clinton administration officials have not yet said whether the attempts were successful or who made them. The White House received numerous messages from Chinese NATO war protestors, but has not yet determined if any of them were involved in the hacking incidents. The Secret Service is conducting an investigation into the attacks.

"Existing security procedures provided a response to the incident, which included limiting public access to the system," said White House spokesman Joe Lockhart. Internet service and internal e-mail were disabled as a security measure Monday at 8 p.m. The site was back up on Wednesday morning.

Three other federal Web sites were attacked Sunday night by hackers protesting NATO's accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade on Saturday. The Energy and Interior departments and the National Park Service were all affected by the attacks. All hacked agencies have begun investigations and are now back online. But the National Park Service site continued to experience technical difficulties as of Wednesday afternoon.

An interagency federal Web site, Recreation.gov, was hacked on April 30 by Anti-NATO protestors. The hackers replaced information on recreation opportunities on government-owned land with a brief essay attacking NATO operations in Yugoslavia.

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