Forwarded From: Brook Powers <lwpowersat_private> Hackers Hit U.S. Military Computers By Janelle Carter Associated Press Writer Saturday, June 6, 1998; 4:39 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hackers entered U.S. Army computers last week and altered a command's Web site, an Army spokesman said Saturday. Days earlier, computer rebels claimed to have entered India's national security computer network and stolen sensitive nuclear weapons secrets. They said in an interview with the online magazine Wired News that they also altered a World Wide Web site there. Asked about a possible connection between the two incidents, Army spokesman Gerry Gilmore told The Associated Press, ``If you're hacking, you can go through different routes. Evidently they went through some Army organization's computers.'' Later, however, Gilmore refused further comment about whether the hackers used the Army access to enter the Indian government computers. He referred further questions to the Defense Department. Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner said only that ``the appropriate authorities are looking into it.'' Both the FBI and the Army were investigating the matter, officials said. The six hackers -- who call themselves the MilwOrm Group, said they are 15-18 years old and hail from the United States, England, the Netherlands and New Zealand -- claimed to have accessed electronic mail messages sent between India's nuclear scientists and Israeli government officials as well as downloaded sensitive documents. They also altered the Web site of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, the nerve center of India's nuclear programs, they said in the online interview. The Indian government vehemently denied on Friday that the breach resulted in the loss of sensitive information, saying the hackers only accessed e-mail messages of scientists and the web site. ``Recent access by hackers has been only to e-mail messages of scientists and BARC home page information, and the connections for these are isolated from all other computers used at BARC and obviously do not contain any sensitive information,'' said S. Narendra, principal spokesman for the government of India, reading a release from BARC officials. Gilmore said the hackers apparently got into the Army's computers Thursday through its Dental Command system at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. ``The home page, the title page, was altered,'' Gilmore said. ``The server was shut down upon discovery. It's been secured.'' Gilmore would not elaborate on the type of information the hackers gained or if U.S. security was compromised. A Web site called AntiOnline began posting Saturday what it said were samples of data stolen from the Bombay research center's computers. AntiOnline said it had received the information from the hackers. The hackers said they were angry about last month's nuclear tests conducted by India and Pakistan. President Clinton warned during commencement ceremonies last month at the U.S. Naval Academy that the United States is increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attack. He called for strengthening the nation's computer defenses and ordered an assessment to plan against such attacks. -o- Subscribe: mail majordomoat_private with "subscribe isn". Today's ISN Sponsor: Repent Security Incorporated [www.repsec.com]
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