Most of the Pentagon's public access Web pages were back in operation Tuesday, but investigators were looking for the hacker who altered an Air Force home page, forcing the weekend closure of 80 Web sites.
Scores of sites, which carry a range of nonclassified defense information, were shut early Sunday after officials found that the Air Force World Wide Web home page had been altered in a hacking attempt.The sites include service-specific information, biographies of senior officers, and, among other things, three separate sites on Persian Gulf War Illness. As of Monday, officials said that only the Air Force home page had been altered.
"They tampered with information located on the home page," said Air Force Maj. Ron Lovas. As to who did the hacking, "the simple answer is, they don't know."
The Defense Technical Information Center at Fort Belvoir, Va., which manages 80 Defense Department Web sites, took all of the servers off line after discovering the damaged file.
While an Air Force news release referred to the event as a "hacking attempt" and "attempted break-in," Lovas said investigators found that the hacker or hackers had successfully altered some home-page material.
Most of the Web sites were expected to be back on line by late Monday. The Pentagon's premier Web site, "DefenseLINK," was up and running by midday.
"We take all attempts by computer vandals very seriously," said Capt. Terry Bowman, a senior Air Force public affairs official involved in technology issues. "We continually review our security procedures to maintain the integrity of the information on our site. It's unfortunate someone wants to do such a great disservice to the public by disrupting the flow of information to everyone."
The hacking incident did not appear to involve the compromise of any classified information since none is available on the Air Force Web site. Lovas denied that the hacker had gained access to an internal Air Force electronic mail network.
Hacking attempts aimed at Pentagon computers are common.