USAToday

09/18/2001 - Updated 09:07 PM ET Computer pros launch hack attack on Mideast

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

Saying the U.S. government hasn't sufficiently responded to last week's terrorist attacks, a group of vigilante hackers has taken matters into its own hands and defaced some 200 to 300 Middle Eastern government Web sites and those of Palestinian Internet service providers. The group says it plans to destroy Web servers and Internet access in Afghanistan. "This is the 21st century, the world of technology belongs to us," says a 21-year-old computer security worker from Ohio who uses the name "Hackah Jak." He is the founder of the group of 60 computer professionals from around the world who call themselves the Dispatchers.

-- Anonymous, September 19, 2001