[ISN] Hacker cripples government website in Chengdu

[InfoSec News]

http://www.interfax.cn/showfeature.asp?aid=9724

Shanghai.
February 7, 2006  
INTERFAX-CHINA 

The official website of the Chengdu Agricultural Committee, a
government body that oversees agricultural production in the
southwestern Chinese city, was hacked on Monday and has been
inaccessible up to now, a government official told Interfax Tuesday.

"We have not found out who did this but we are restoring the website,
which will be up and running again within one or two days," an
official surnamed Wu said.  Wu is the director of the Chengdu
Agricultural Committee's Network Administration Department.

The government website, www.cdagri.gov.cn, was attacked Monday morning
and the homepage was replaced with a black page saying that the
website was "rubbish." The hacker also claimed to be from China Eagle
Union, a Chinese hacker organization, local newspaper Tianfu Morning
News (Tianfu Zaobao), reported.

However, as the investigation is still in progress, the real identity
and purpose of the hacker remain a mystery.

"It is definitely impossible for us to do this, because hacking into
government websites is illegal," Luo Yuwei, an official with the China
Eagle Union, told Interfax.  China Eagle Union is a domestic
non-profit organization that has been involved in hacker wars against
Japanese and American counterparts.

The Chengdu Agricultural Committee, meanwhile, is planning to improve
its network security after the accident.

"We will upgrade our website this year," Wu said.

-KW