Hackers deface EC Web site in 2nd incident

Dutch hackers on Tuesday defaced the Safer Internet Exchange, a Web site sponsored by the European Commission that promotes a safer Internet. Security at the site had been increased last week after other hackers raised a red flag about possible vulnerabilities.The cybervandals left a message taunting the server administrators and law enforcement and inserted two hyperlinks, one to a Web site for Hackers at Large 2001, an event to be held in the Netherlands in August, and one to a database elsewhere on SaferInternet.org. The database, which can be downloaded by following the link, contains about 475 e-mail addresses of people who subscribe to the SaferInternet.org mailing list, according to a security expert who examined the database and requested anonymity

The hack is an embarrassment to the commission and its contractor, Ecotec Research and Consulting Ltd. in Birmingham, England. Hackers last week identified two holes in the site's security, which were acknowledged by Ecotec and quickly patched (see "European 'safer Internet' site hit by hackers," link below). The holes were linked to known vulnerabilities in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Information Server software, which is widely used to serve Web sites.