As War Heats Up, Hacker And Virus Activity IncreasesAs War Heats Up, Hacker And Virus Activity Increases

As the U.S.-led military campaign against the Iraqi government intensifies, hacker and virus writing activity is increasing. Security companies are reporting that hundreds of Web sites have been defaced, many with pro- or anti-war rhetoric. Viruses and worms using public interest in the war as a lure are also beginning to spread.

Security company F-Secure Corp. says more than 1,000 Web sites have been defaced so far and the number of defaced sites continues to increase. Some of the Web-site defacements reported by F-Secure include the U.S. National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, which was vandalized with a "Make Love Not War" headline. Others include a U.S. Navy Webmail system; the Pacifica, Calif., community Web site; and the site www.timeleader.com, which was splashed with the text "Kill Saddam!"

Many security experts expressed concern that attacks on networks and Web sites would increase, and the Internet contains numerous areas of vulnerability to attack. However, security intelligence experts are reporting no signs of actual state-sponsored attacks or attacks from terrorist organizations. So far, the actions seem to be sporadic attacks from patriotic U.S. hackers, pro-Islamic hackers, and peace activists with anti-war slogans who are denouncing the war. Last month, the FBI issued a warning to "patriotic" U.S. hackers that they would be prosecuted if caught.

However, F-Secure is reporting that Islamic hackers are attacking U.S. sites, mostly at those with the .mil domain.

None of the war-related viruses seems to have spread far. However, there are reports of the Ganda virus, discovered March 17, infecting some systems, though security firms still say it's a low threat. Another virus, Prune, is also considered a low threat by antivirus vendors. Prune is a mass-mailing Visual Basic script virus that carries the subject line "US Goverment sic Material - Iraq Crisis."The Lioten, or Iraq_Oil, virus has also failed to make much headway.

Keynote Systems Inc., a company that tracks Internet and Web-site performance, says the Internet was having no problems Friday morning from either Internet attacks or the deluge of news seekers. Most news and government sites, according to Keynote, were suffering only minor latency and performing well overall.