http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08006/847083-85.stm By Anya Sostek Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 06, 2008 A hacker from China successfully penetrated Pennsylvania's state government Web site Friday, but did not spread a virus or compromise citizen data. "We know that there was no damage done," said Mia DeVane, spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Administration, which oversees information technology. Friday morning, four state government departments received indications of a security problem. Rather than limit the response to just those departments -- Education, Labor and Industry, Lottery and Military and Veteran's Affairs -- the state shut down its entire Web site as a precautionary measure. The Web site was down from about 9:30 a.m. to about 5 p.m. on Friday, said Ms. DeVane. The greatest response from those unable to access the Web site came from people looking for Department of Agriculture information about the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, which opened yesterday. An investigation traced the hacker to a domain registered in China, said Ms. DeVane, noting that the hacker was attempting to spread a virus. Pennsylvania's Internet security is well regarded, she said, and the state recently won an award from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers for its approach to information security and privacy. The state also spent part of Friday informing other states about the threat so they could protect their systems. "We have an excellent security program and that's how we were able to get an early detection of a hacker getting in the back door," said Ms. DeVane. __________________________________________________________________ Visit InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/
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