Friday, September 22 9:32 PM SGT

Hackers Hit Web Sites Of Japan's Missions In US - Kyodo TOKYO (Dow Jones)--The Web sites of the Japanese Embassy in Washington and 17 Japanese consulates within the U.S. have been hacked into and disrupted, according to the Kyodo news agency, citing comments from Japan's Foreign Ministry on Friday. The ministry said it shut down the sites and started recovery operations and investigations. Hackers altered the sites with obscene word displays, according to the Kyodo.

The ministry said a monitoring system for the Web sites alerted it to the incidents.

It is the first time the Web sites of the Japanese Embassy and consulates have been disrupted, according to the ministry. The ministry's site in Japan remains intact, it said.

In January, the Web sites of Japanese government ministries were disrupted in a series of attacks by hackers.

The hackers, who targeted the sites of the Transport Ministry, the Management and Coordination Agency, and the Science and Technology Agency, inserted messages in both Chinese and English criticizing the Japanese government for its stance on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.

The attacks followed several unsuccessful attempts earlier by hackers trying to break into the Web sites of the ministries of education, telecommunications and foreign affairs

http://asia.biz.yahoo.com/news/asian_markets/article.html?s=asiafinance/news/000922/asian_markets/dowjones/Hackers_Hit_Web_Sites_Of_Japan_s_Missions_In_US_-_Kyodo.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 22, 2000