‘Hacktivists’ choose sides in war on terrorism

Computer hackers with a political agenda have been active in the months since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, taking down public and private networks and defacing Web sites, according to a recent report by the National Infrastructure Protection Center. The threat posed by such online protesters, also known as "hacktivists," remains low, according to the report, "Cyber Protests Related to the War on Terrorism: The Current Threat." Nonetheless, the threat is "higher than before Sept. 11," the report said. The hackers are divided along pro- and anti-U.S. lines. Pro-American hackers attacked Pakistani and Afghan Web sites on Sept. 11. A day later, Pakistan's official government Web site was defaced as were Taleban.com and Talibanonline.com. On Sept. 16, a group known as 'The Dispatchers' defaced the home page of the Iranian Ministry of the Interior. More serious is a report that a group calling itself the 'Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terror' hacked into a Sudanese bank and found records linking bank accounts to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, according to NIPC. On Sept. 14, the first anti-U.S. protesters mobilized. A hacker known as "Fluffi Bunni" cracked an important server at an internet service provider and replaced thousands of homepages with the message "Fluffi Bunni Goes Jihad." The same day, a computer virus was renamed WTC.txt.vbs, and was aimed at "users who were curious about the World Trade Center." Perhaps most serious of the recent cyberprotests are those conducted by a group called 'GForce Pakistan,' who have defaced numerous Israeli, Indian and U.S. Web sites since February 2000. On Oct. 17, the group hacked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Web server. Three days later the group targeted the Defense Test and Evaluation Processional Institute. According to NIPC, GForce Pakistan has said "they will continue to target military sites and Web sites that support critical infrastructure." NIPC warned that hacktivism will continue as U.S. military action overseas escalates. While the hacktivism displayed so far has been unsophisticated, the potential for more serious cyberattacks exists, the report said.