Main Page | Bracing for Cyberwar | Hacking Primer | Scenes from the 'Hacker Underground' | Hacking: Two Viewpoints | Timeline | Gallery | News Archive | Discussion | Related Sites

June 1, 1999
Web posted at: 5:02 a.m. EDT (0902 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Computer hackers are vowing to attack more government sites on the Internet, because of an FBI investigation.

Hackers defaced a Web page on Monday within the Interior Department and a site run by a federal supercomputer laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho, claiming "It's our turn to hit them where it hurts."

Bracing for Cyberwar Hacking Primer Hacking: Two Views Timeline Gallery Discussion TIME: Counterhacking 101 Related Sites

Last week, hackers defaced the U.S. Senate Web site, causing it to be taken offline until the weekend.

The FBI also was forced to take down its own Internet site last week after hackers launched an electronic attack against it. It remained inaccessible Monday, along with the Web site for its National Infrastructure Protection Center, which helps investigate computer crimes.

Messages left at the attacked sites suggest they were vandalized to retaliate against FBI investigation of specific hacker groups, including the group that boasted of breaking into the White House site last month.

"These are the perils of open government," said Stephanie Hanna, an Interior spokeswoman. "We try to make as much of the materials of the Interior Department as open and available as possible. The consequence of that is, those who choose to do damaging things can do that."

FBI executes search warrants

The FBI confirmed it executed four search warrants last week in Texas related to an investigation into allegations of computer intrusion, including one search at the home of a prominent hacker in Houston.

On the Interior's Web page, the hackers left this message: "Now, it's our turn to hit them where it hurts by going after every computer on the Net with a .gov (suffix).... We'll keep hitting them until they get down on their knees and beg."

At the site maintained by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, a note threatened the electronic destruction of the powerful computers that "serve" pages on the Internet "if the FBI doesn't stop."

"We could have done worse, like destroying completely all servers," the note said. "We can do it if we want, but hackers are waiting for Justice."

In an online interview, the hacker claiming responsibility for the laboratory attack warned The Associated Press that further FBI investigation would result in more severe damage.

The hacker identified himself only as M1crochip, living in Portugal and part of a group calling themselves F0rpaxe. The interview was arranged through a mutually trusted third party.

"If FBI doesn't do anything and doesn't stop arresting people and making our life miserable, each member of F0rpaxe will discuss an eventual destruction of every single server," he said. "If that happens, everything goes down."

He added, "We don't want to proceed that way," and called the electronic attacks the "only resource" of the hacker community.

The FBI in Washington declined comment Monday.

Earlier this month, a grand jury in northern Virginia indicted Eric Burns, 19, on three counts of computer intrusion. Burns is reportedly known on the Internet as "Zyklon" and is believed to be a member of the group that claimed responsibility for the attacks on the White House and Senate sites.

"Zyklon" was one of a dozen names listed on the hacked version of the White House Web site, which was altered overnight Sunday for a few minutes before government computers automatically detected the intrusion. Burns was accused of breaking into a computer used by the U.S. Information Agency between August 1998 and January 1999. The grand jury also said Burns broke into two other computers, one owned by LaserNet of Fairfax, Va., and the other by Issue Dynamics Inc. of Washington.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.