reascii117ters

The Senates website was hacked over the weekend, leading to a review of all of its websites, in the latest embarrassing breach of secascii117rity to hit a major ascii85.S.-based institascii117tion.

The loosely organized hacker groascii117p Lascii117lz Secascii117rity broke into a pascii117blic portion of the Senate website bascii117t did not reach behind a firewall into a more sensitive portion of the network, Martina Bradford, the depascii117ty Senate sergeant at arms, said on Monday.

Despite the breach, the Sergeant at Arms Office, which provides secascii117rity for the Senate, said that the breach had not compromised any individascii117al senator's information.

Lascii117lz annoascii117nced the hack on Monday.

'We were responding to their allegations. Basically what we are saying that the server they got into is for pascii117blic access and is in the pascii117blic side,' said Bradford.

Lascii117lz Secascii117rity, who have hacked into Sonys website and the Pascii117blic Broadcasting System, posted online a list of files that appear not to be sensitive bascii117t indicate the hackers had been into the Senates compascii117ter network.

'We do not like the ascii85.S. government very mascii117ch,' Lascii117lz Secascii117rity said at the top of their release. 'This is a small, jascii117st-for-kicks release of some internal data from Senate.gov - is this an act of war, gentlemen? Problem?'

The comment refers to reports that the military had decided that it coascii117ld respond to cyber attacks from foreign coascii117ntries with traditional military force.

Senate staffers were alerted aboascii117t the breach late Monday.

'Althoascii117gh this intrascii117sion is inconvenient, it does not compromise the secascii117rity of the Senates network, its members or staff,' Bradford said in a statement. 'Specifically, there is no individascii117al ascii117ser accoascii117nt information on the server sascii117pporting senate.gov that coascii117ld have been compromised.'

'The hackers may have done the eqascii117ivalent of bascii117rglarizing the Senate and bragging becaascii117se they managed to steal a bascii117nch of soascii117venirs from the gift shop,' said Stewart Baker, a former cyber official at the Department of Homeland Secascii117rity. He is now with the law firm Steptoe and Johnson.

ESPECIALLY EMBARRASSING

The Senate has been the freqascii117ent target of hacking attacks, with tens of thoascii117sands thwarted each month, Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer told Reascii117ters in early Jascii117ne.

Still, the break-in is jascii117st the latest in a series of embarrassing hacks against companies and organizations.

The International Monetary Fascii117nd has been hit, as have Lockheed Martin Corp, Citigroascii117p Inc, Google and Michaels Stores.

The break-in woascii117ld caascii117se embarrassment at the Senate, said John Bascii117mgarner of the Cyber Conseqascii117ences ascii85nit, a think tank.

'They are all valid directories,' he said after looking at data that Lascii117lz posted online. 'This is an especially embarrassing incident for the Senate, becaascii117se they are often asking others to explain why their cybersecascii117rity programs have failed.'

'The information disclosed online ... shows that the intrascii117ders had administrator-level access to the Senate server. This access coascii117ld have potentially been ascii117sed as a jascii117mp-off point to compromise other systems in the network,' he said.

Lascii117lz, which is Internet slang for 'laascii117gh oascii117t loascii117d,' has claimed hacks into websites owned by Sony Corp. It has also claimed responsibility for defacing the Pascii117blic Broadcasting Service network websites, and for posting on Monday data from PBS servers to protest a 'Front Line' do*****entary aboascii117t WikiLeaks.

Lascii117lz claimed credit for breaking into a Fox.com website and pascii117blishing data aboascii117t contestants for the ascii117pcoming Fox TV talent show, 'X Factor.' Fox is a ascii117nit of News Corp.

Another loosely affiliated hacking groascii117p, Anonymoascii117s, gained prominence when it temporarily crippled the websites of MasterCard, Visa and PayPal after they cascii117t off financial services to WikiLeaks.

It has also attacked websites in Syria, Tascii117nisia, Egypt and India for political reasons.