Hamas Hacked

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Hamas Hacked — Another blow was struck today in the Middle East conflict, but this one did not involve rubber bullets or bombs. It involved computers.

Visitors to the militant Palestinian group Hamas' home page today were treated to a lot more action than they might have bargained for when they were diverted to a hard-core porn site called Hot Motel Horny Sex Sluts. Sheik Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the political wing of Hamas pointed the finger at Israeli Intelligence accusing them of "trying to disfigure the image of Islam and Muslims."

The attack is suspected to be in retaliation for a Hamas revelation on Monday when it claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing last weekend that resulted in the deaths of three Israelis. The hackers have not yet been identified.

This is not the first incident of "hacktivism," the term for political hacking, during the Middle East crisis and no one, it seems, is immune.

In January Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon's Web site was hacked into. The site was replaced with a new Web site that included pro-Hezbollah information, anti-Sharon slogans and the headline "the world's biggest murderer."

Last November, the powerful Washington based American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was hit. The hacker vandalized the site by publishing important e-mails downloaded from AIPAC's own database as well as the e-mail addresses and credit card numbers of AIPAC members.

Other victims have included the Knesset (Israel's parliament) and Israeli Internet providers.

Experts say hacktivism is on the increase because it is a low risk way to have a large impact.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), March 08, 2001


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