The Command Post - Iraq - FBI Investigates al-Jazeera Hacking

March 28, 2003

FBI Investigates al-Jazeera Hacking

The FBI is investigating the defacement of an al-Jazeera Web site after unidentified hackers replaced the Qatari news outlet's site with a stars-and-stripes logo.

"We are aware of the incident and we are looking into it," an FBI official told United Press International Friday.

"We cannot tell what the nature of violation is ... we are investigating it right now," said Laura Bosley, an FBI official in Los Angeles.

The agency's Los Angeles bureau is dealing with the reported cyber-attack.

Posted By Robert Prather (The Mind Of Man) at March 28, 2003 09:06 PM | TrackBack

Comments

Why do I get the feeling this one will fall into some agent's "in" basket and lay there for about a year?

Posted by: Joe Dougherty at March 28, 2003 09:14 PM

It gives me a warm feeling to know the FBI is devoting so much effort to this obvious attack on the US by mideast scoundrels.

Posted by: Mr_Sarcasm at March 28, 2003 09:16 PM

We'll get right on it.

Posted by: Tommy at March 28, 2003 09:19 PM

I am sure the FBI will give this matter all the attention it deserves!

Posted by: Grace at March 28, 2003 09:19 PM

the file let me see it was here yesterday now where did i put it...2006 i found that file you were looking for...lol

Posted by: aby normal at March 28, 2003 09:39 PM

And as soon as we find these *%$#$# people,,,,we'll buy the fine young lads a beer and say job well done

Posted by: amused at March 28, 2003 09:50 PM

I hope they catch the punks and throw them in jail.

Posted by: Michael Wagner at March 28, 2003 09:54 PM

hey wagner was that an attempt at humor? or are you a muslum?

Posted by: aby normal at March 28, 2003 10:28 PM

"hey wagner was that an attempt at humor? or are you a muslum?"

no. no.

Posted by: Michael Wagner at March 28, 2003 11:03 PM

I tip my hat to the fine folks who did this.

Posted by: Dan at March 28, 2003 11:03 PM

Yeah, but you guys fail to remember that Al Jazeera site was at least partly hosted here in the US (the other company, Navlink is French). Not to mention the interim providers for hosting and DNS lookup Al Jazeera found.

From what I understand, there was collateral damage from the attack, since not only the Web server but the Nameserver (the computer that does the http://aljazeera.net to actual Web server IP address) was attacked. It would be safe to assume that other Web sites hosted by the companies in question we affected by this.

In other words, I'm sure that the providers in question have handed in their logs. And if the attack wasn't sophisticated (i.e. using proxies) there should be some people who are worried right now. If you have a firewall, take a look at the logs, ICMP packets are different than HTTP requests.

As much as I HATE the content that spews forth from that particular site, I still think the attacks were wrong. We're supposed to be the ones battling with ideas.

Posted by: joy at March 28, 2003 11:21 PM