Print

Mail

wiki links

Web hackers hit US via Taiwan

Pakistani hackers have used Taiwan-based computer systems as platforms for attacks against Web sites in the US and the UK, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.

The FBI has informed Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau of long-distance attacks by a hacker group called "G-Force Pakistan," which used Taiwan-based computer systems as its launch pads.

The attacks targeted computers in government agencies, military, media and academic institutions in the US and UK, the report said.

The bureau's Internet department has discovered that six Taiwan-based computer systems have been invaded, including those of GigaMedia Ltd and Tatung Information Enterprise Inc.

The hackers first invaded Tatung's computers and then moved on to GigaMedia and the US and UK Web sites, the report said.

Taiwan police have notified the operators of the six hacked systems in Taiwan and asked them to fix the loopholes in their systems, the report said.

Both GigaMedia and Tatung expressed surprise at the news, saying they had found no irregularities in their computer systems.

The report quoted unnamed sources from GigaMedia, an Internet service provider, as saying the company would not launch any indiscriminate probes into client information or its sources.

The hacker attacks began in October last year and investigators think they may be linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

The hackers left the emblem of their organization and obscenities on Web pages and installed "Trojan horse" sniffers in the systems, the report said. Sniffers are computer programs that can be used to monitor the content of computer systems and the traffic between them.

The hackers, who claimed to be supporters of the Taliban regime and Kashmiri separatists, invaded the Taiwanese computers from Pakistan, the report said.

The hackers vowed more attacks in the future and claimed to have obtained top-secret US military information, which they threatened to hand over to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization.
This story has been viewed 11569 times.