Calif. Web Sites Hacked

For years, most information technology publications have reported on how computer hacking has increasingly turned away from the teenage hackers who play adolescent tricks by defacing Web sites to the more serious hacking involving malware and stealing corporate trade secrets and government data. Here’s an example of both: Recently hackers embedded pornography and serious virus and malware in California government Web sites, reports the Sacramento Bee. The General Services Administration even got involved, according to the article.

When officials at the General Services Administration, which oversees all .gov addresses, discovered the porn links this week, they began yanking Internet access to all ca.gov Web sites, [California Chief Information Officer Clark] Kelso said.

Among those briefly losing access were the California Parks and Recreation site and some e-mail to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office, Kelso said.

State officials scrambled to contact the GSA, which reversed its decision and restored service.