computing

Hacker hits government site

LA PRENSA

Hacker or Cracker?974811

The words "Someone is watching you" and a picture of the American flag were the first sign that someone had hacked into the Asamblea Nacional's home page last Jan. 9. The Asamblea's website at www.asam blea.gob.pa is one of the government's most visited, according to the Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (Senacyt). It remains inaccessible because of the break-in.

The attack came at 9:30 p.m. from two cybercafes in the cities of David and Penonomé. Asamblea Nacional president Pedro Miguel González called the attack an act of infiltration of the institution's information system. Legislative staff who prefer to remain anonymous see the attack as a U.S. terrorist act against González. Gonzalez was indicted in the United States on charges including first degree murder, conspiracy to murder, and attempted murder of a U.S. national in the killing of U.S. Army Sergeant Zak Hernandez-Laporte and the attempted murder of U.S. Army Sergeant Ronald T. Marshall in an assault near Chilibre on June 10, 1992. There is an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Recently, "hacktivism" has been gaining popularity in Panama. Most state institutions don't have the funds to invest in adequate security. "You just have to find the page you want to get into, and off you go," said a hacking aficionado who prefers not to give his name. "You can put up a block from anywhere, locally or internationally, and make investigators believe it came from someplace else altogether." Technology experts at the Asamblea have not ruled out the possibility that the attack might have come from outisde the country, said Didimo Escobar, subsecretario general of the Asamblea.

Jamie Blanco, vice president of Ximar Techologie, a business specializing in penetrating and protecting network systems, said that hacking has occurred on various occasions and at different websites in Panama, including sites operated by Senacyt, the Ministerio de Comercio e Industrias, the Presidencia de la República, the Órgano Judicial and even some banks. He said he believes the government has in fact invested in technology, but not in an integrated security system that would protect its equipment.

Technology experts make a distinction between "hackers," who want to know how a system works from the inside in order to detect flaws so that it can be improved, and "crackers," who violate security systems for personal gain or to do massive damage.