[ISN] Dutch government sites attacked

[InfoSec News]

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,10987848%5E15331%5E%5Enbv%5E15306%2D15318,00.html

Correspondents in Amsterdam
OCTOBER 06, 2004  
 
SEVERAL Dutch government web sites remained offline on Tuesday after
an attack by hackers protesting against unpopular policies of the
right-wing cabinet, the government said.

In a denial-of-service attack, the hackers continually made fake
requests for information from the web sites, effectively shutting out
legitimate users, a government statement said.

No security sites had been breached, and only public information sites
were disabled, said Henk Brons, a spokesman for the government
information agency known by its Dutch acronym RVD. Two sites carrying
information about government institutions and their activities were
affected.

A group calling itself the "Hacking Crew 10pht" claimed responsibility
for the attacks on a Dutch web forum.

Mr Brons said he had no further details on the hackers, adding that
police were investigating.

The sites crashed when they became overloaded Monday afternoon.  
Technicians were still working on the problem more than 24 hours
later. Mr Brons could not say when the sites would be back online.

The Dutch government has come under public criticism over planned
spending cuts in 2005 on health care and early retirement benefits. On
Saturday, 200,000 staged a protest in Amsterdam, the largest in the
Netherlands in 20 years.