RE: [ISN] Italian Police Nab Hacker Group

From: InfoSec News (isnat_private)
Date: Thu Jan 17 2002 - 02:01:09 PST

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    Forwarded from: leon <leonat_private>
    
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    I would like to say that anytime a website gets defaced there are
    always monetary damages.  There are always qualitative damages that
    are hard to put a dollar figure on.  If a customer goes to the gap
    website and finds it defaced are they going to feel comfortable doing
    business with them over the web?  Also the webservers admin probably
    gets fired or reprimanded and some might just not know how to secure
    their webservers.  Ignorance doesn't beg or justify attack.
    
    The fact that these kids are going to get off with just a slap on the
    wrist does not seem fair.  What do other people think?
    
    Cheers,
    
    Leon
    
    - -----Original Message-----
    From: owner-isnat_private [mailto:owner-isnat_private] On
    Behalf Of InfoSec News
    Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2002 1:20 AM
    To: isnat_private
    Subject: [ISN] Italian Police Nab Hacker Group
    
    http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,79686,00.asp
    
    Philip Willan, IDG News Service
    Tuesday, January 15, 2002
    
    ROME -- Italian police have identified six members of a hacker group
    charged with attacking thousands of Web sites in 62 countries,
    replacing official home pages with anti-globalization slogans,
    finance
    police officials said Tuesday. The group is one of the most important
    to be discovered in terms of the number and significance of its
    targets, officials said.
    
    The hackers, all students between the ages of 15 and 23, began their
    attacks last July during the G8 summit in Genoa, which led to
    anti-globalization demonstrations. Hackers placed the slogan "Hi-Tech
    Hate" on Web sites, police said. However, the attacks did not cause
    much monetary damage, so the hackers are not expected to be severely
    punished.
    
    In the United States, hacked sites included those of the Pentagon,
    the
    U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, courts, and
    numerous universities including Harvard University, Columbia
    University, and Cornell University, police said.
      
    The group also attacked government Web sites in Europe and South
    America, the finance police said in a statement. The
    Anti-Technological Crime Unit of the finance police handled the
    investigation.
    
    Prolific Vandalism 
    
    In Italy the group hacked sites of the health and defense ministries,
    the Senate, media organizations, the Internet provider Italia On
    Line,
    the Left Democrats Party, and pop singer Claudio Baglioni.
    
    The investigation began in August, when the crime unit became aware
    of
    an attempt to penetrate the Web site of MB Service Srl, an Italian
    software company, police said. Investigators followed the trail to a
    Hi-Tech Hate hacker and subsequently tracked down the other five. The
    students lived in different parts of Italy and kept in contact via
    the
    Internet, investigators said.
    
    "This was one of the most prolific hacker groups ever seen in terms
    of
    the number of its attacks. They were very expert," Giancarlo Samele,
    a
    member of the Anti-Technological Crime Unit, said in an interview.
    "We
    don't have an estimate of the financial damage caused, but it should
    not be very high. These were not really malicious attacks."
    
    The hackers are likely to escape with suspended prison sentences
    because they have no previous convictions and their attacks did not
    cause serious damage, Gianluigi Chiapponi, the Ravenna prosecutor
    coordinating the case, said at a press conference.
    
    
    
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