PoizonBOx hackers leave e-envoy red-faced

The government has launched an investigation after a chain of UK government Web sites including one belonging to the office of the e-envoy were hacked and defaced on Tuesday by a group of computer crackers.

The sites, including the e-envoy's site for intergovernmental policy, www.govtalk.gov.uk, Scottish archive site www.nas.gov.uk, and local government sites www.wiltshire.gov.uk and www.havant.gov.uk, were defaced late on Tuesday and early Wednesday morning. A group of cybervandals calling themselves PoizonBOx replaced government information with graffiti showing a self-styled logo.

A spokeswoman for the office of the e-envoy said that an investigation had been launched. "The service providers are investigating and will make a report. We can't say anything until then."

The spokeswoman said that when launched, the site complied with security standards established by CESG (Communications Electronics Security Group) -- the government's centre for computer security. She added that the sites were expected to be back up and running by midday Wednesday.

According to Alldas, a German site that lists defaced Web sites, all the government sites were running on Microsoft's Internet Information Server (ISS) 4.0 Web hosting application.

Take me to Hackers

Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Click on the TalkBack button and go to the Security forum.

Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read what others have said.