Hackers Target Gaming Sites With Fake FBI Takedowns

Hackers have found a new way to deface a website: the phony FBI takedown.

Late last week, a “handful” of websites were hacked and then defaced with a U.S. FBI seal as well as an antipiracy warning claiming that the site had been seized by the law enforcement organization, said Paul Bresson, an FBI spokesman.

The sites being hacked were mostly gaming sites, he said.

Bresson declined to say what websites had been hit with the attacks, and he couldn’t say what might have prompted these hacks. “I’m not sure if it’s financially motivated,” he said. “I’m not sure what their motive would be.”

In some cases, hackers also changed domain name registration information to make it look as if the FBI had taken ownership of the website, he added.

Although these attacks are not widespread, the FBI is concerned anytime its name is misused, Bresson said.

A sparsely worded advisory on the attacks was published Friday by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a joint effort between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.

-Robert McMillan, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)

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