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Hackers Attack Al-Jazeera Website

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Reuters
March 28, 2003

Hackers have replaced the news website of Arab satellite TV network al-Jazeera with a stars-and-stripes logo saying "Let Freedom Ring".

Both the Arabic site, at (http://www.aljazeera.net), and the English- language version at (http://english.aljazeera.net) could not be accessed on Thursday. Users who tried to log onto the site found a message that read, "Hacked by Patriot, Freedom Cyber Force Militia" beneath a logo containing the U.S. flag. "This broadcast was brought to you by: Freedom Cyber Force Militia," the site said. "God bless our troops!!!"

Al-Jazeera information technology manager Salah Al Seddiqui said someone had hijacked the domain name and redirected it to another server computer. "Our website is working but nobody can see it," Al Seddiqui said.

The al-Jazeera website has faced near-constant cyber attacks since an English-language version devoted exclusively to the war in Iraq was launched on Monday. Hackers have blitzed the site with meaningless data in an effort to squeeze out legitimate traffic and render the site inaccessible, a technique known as a "denial of service" attack. That attack eased at around 3 a.m. London time on Thursday, Al Seddiqui said, but the domain name was hijacked shortly after.

The Qatar-based network had tried to switch the address back but was denied access by domain-name seller Network Solutions, he said. "We can't say it's their fault or our fault," he said. A Network Solutions spokesman was not immediately available for

comment. The company also has had to search for a new home for the site after U.S.-based DataPipe said it could no longer host the site from the end of the month. Al Seddiqui said the company had moved its servers to a data centre in France.

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FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.