It's one thing to wonder about hanky panky behind closed bedroom doors in the nation's capital. But it's quite another to log onto the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's website and be greeted not by the usual bureaucratic salutations but by a whip-wielding vamp. \n"...shall we whip up a little energy tonight?" The hacked website, as ZDNet shows it.
But she is precisely the cartoon image visitors to the website saw first last night, thanks to what ZDNet News describes as a "taunting hacker". The site was headlined "Sarin," reportedly the handle of the hacker claiming credit for the latest cyberspace break-in of a site associated with the federal government.
"Sarin" also left a short note, taunting FERC administrators for leaving the site so vulnerable to hack attacks after such broad recent publicity about copycat hack attacks. "I'd seriously consider hiring a new admin(istrator) if I were you," the hacker wrote.
And, in an e-mail to ZDNet News said to have been received at about 7:56 p.m. PDT last night, "Sarin" asked if anyone cared that he had "complete control" over the FERC.
Similar hackers, said to be bent on teaching "sloppy system administrators" a lesson, have hit numerous federal websites in the past year, including NASA, the Army, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
And, last year, the General Accounting Office chastised various federal agencies for leaving too many holes in their online security defence systems.
