[Media-watch] FW: Al Jazeera hacked by "Patriot"

david Miller david.miller at stir.ac.uk
Thu Mar 27 22:44:53 GMT 2003




http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37392-2003Mar27.html

Hackers Replace Al-Jazeera Web Site With American Flag

By Ted Bridis
AP Technology Writer
Thursday, March 27, 2003; 1:19 PM
Hackers on Thursday replaced the English-language Web site for Arab
satellite television network Al-Jazeera with a U.S. flag and the message
"Let Freedom Ring."
The hackers, calling themselves the "Freedom Cyber Force Militia," briefly
hijacked Internet traffic destined for Al-Jazeera's Web site and redirected
it to a different Web page on computers operated by Networld Connections
Inc., an Internet provider in Salt Lake City.

The likely hacking technique, called "DNS poisoning," fools so-called domain
name servers across the Internet and is relatively difficult to defend
against. Internet records show the Web directories sending traffic to
Al-Jazeera's site were changed early Thursday, apparently without
authorization.

The page also included the message, "God bless our troops," signed by a
self-described "Patriot." There was no response to an e-mail sent to an
address on the Web page.

"Certainly, it has been hacked," acknowledged Jihad Ali Ballout, a spokesman
for Al-Jazeera. He described the attack as "a frontal, vicious attack on
freedom of the press" and urged anyone with information about the hackers to
contact authorities.

The Arab network's Web site has been suffering disruptions for days, ever
since it showed pictures of dead and captive U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

Al-Jazeera, also based in Qatar, is an unusually independent voice in the
Arab world.











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