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SA Web sites 'soft targets` for hackers

Johannesburg, 11 Aug 2003

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of South African hacks reported to zone-h.org, with four university sites and 5fm`s homepage being targeted by hackers last week.

Latitude Information Technology Security consultant Karel Rode says local sites have been identified as soft targets by foreign hackers because many of the sites have not been protected properly.

"There are too many companies that are using old software and basic operating systems for their Web sites. Because of the lack of protection, hackers are taking advantage of the loopholes and are gaining access to the site," Rode says.

Internet lawyer Reinhardt Buys says that between 60 to 70 local sites a day are being hacked as opposed to the several experienced daily two months ago.

"We have seen an increase, but it`s really difficult to say why the last few months have been special in any way," says Andre February, senior manager, global risk management, PricewaterhouseCoopers. "There has been a media focus on IT security, and as a result, you get people who want to brag about their hack attacks."

He points out that this desire to brag could also fuel an increase in sites targeted. "Because the media and companies are paying a lot more attention, this could encourage more attacks."

Buys says the Web sites belonging to the University of Stellenbosch, Natal University, Rhodes University and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) were all hacked last week by suspected Brazilian hackers. Radio station 5fm was also hacked on Friday.

A Wits` Web site was defaced on Thursday by a hacker called "Enzo Matrix", while "Fatal Error" removed all the content from Stellenbosch`s site and published his own notice.

On Tuesday last week the University of Natal`s Digital Imaging Project of South Africa (DISA) site and a Rhodes University Web site were hacked by "Th3 LorDs". Following the message placed on the Stellenbosch site, the hacker removed the content on the DISA site, replacing it with a message of his own.

Buys says that while the hackers were probably not South African, the fact that the Web sites were hacked is concerning as it may lead to students hacking into university networks to alter marks.

"The messages left on the university sites reflect Brazilian hackers who leave e-mail addresses and messages, often in Spanish. There has been an increase in the number of hacks by Brazilians because hacking is not a crime in that country," he says.

However, Rode points out that the university sites that were hacked were not the main sites and probably were not that well protected.

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