Virus writer and hacker activity has stepped up dramatically since the U.S. and U.K. armed forces started their war against Iraq.
In the past 48 hours, more than 1,000 Web sites have been hacked and defaced, according to F-Secure. The Internet security company suggests most of the vandalism was made in the response to the military action in the Gulf.
Among those attacked are a number of U.S. military sites, as well as commercial and political properties. Many were defaced with antiwar messages as the weight of protest mounts.
Perhaps most notably, the U.S. Navy Web site was hacked by an activist called Apocalypse. The message posted on the site read: "No War, U.S.A think they can tell the world what to do, It is not what you can do for your country, it's what your country can do for you! This defacement is dedicated to my bro."
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President Bush launched a long-anticipated war against Iraq to dislodge President Saddam Hussein, and though the war's impact on the tech industry is expected to be minimal, tech is playing an increasingly important role in the conflict.
As the first missiles fell on Iraq, technology helped people sort out their emotions about the conflict, extend a lifeline to loved ones and mount protests. Military families revealed their darkest fears in blogs, Iraqis documented life in Baghdad on the Web and antiwar activists exchanged frantic e-mails urging people to shut down city intersections and, by all means, bring digital cameras to document it.
Advances in technology are giving people immediate insight into war-related events--and the public's feelings about them--more than ever before. No medium is doing it faster than war blogs. One of the most widely linked-to blogs is "Where is Raed?", run by a man who claims to be living in Baghdad.
Some officials worry that information may be moving to the public too quickly. Israel's top government censor warned Web sites in her country not to publish sensitive information about the war with Iraq. A letter sent to "scoop" news sites instructed editors to seek government permission before publishing information about "materials that could pose a threat to the security of the State of Israel and its residents."
The letter warned sites such as Rotter.net and Fresh.co.il not to publish the locations of any missile strikes, information about Israeli Cabinet deliberations or information about Israeli wartime cooperation with other governments such as that of the United States.
Companies and analysts say the war in Iraq is not likely to hurt the technology sector in the short run and may help it. But they caution that extended geopolitical tensions could harm the industry. The campaign has not disrupted sales or operations at tech giants such as Intel and IBM. "There's been no impact on us so far," an Intel representative said.
A technology analyst said conflict "really doesn't have a tremendous direct effect on the technology industry immediately." But a quick U.S. victory may improve the global business climate, which in turn could spark companies to invest in new information technology about 18 months from now, he said.
Virus writers have taken advantage of the onset of war by releasing an e-mail supposedly offering a variety of war-themed attachments, ranging from secret U.S. spy pictures to screensavers mocking President Bush. However, the e-mails actually contain a new e-mail worm called Ganda.
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