NDU Hacked

Byline: Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

NDU hacked

Computers and information networks at the National Defense University (NDU), the Joint Chiefs military education school at Fort McNair in Washington, were hacked and damaged by unknown attackers, defense officials said.

The attacks, described by officials only as "malicious activity," caused the university to shut down all its network servers and replace laptop computers after the activity was detected last month. The costs were high, officials said.

Officials close to the situation said the computer intrusions were identified during routine maintenance and led to suspicions that the hackers had planted clandestine "trap doors" into the system that would allow them future access, or would facilitate computer attacks.

The only way to ensure the security of the systems was to replace them, we are told.

The shutdown forced the university's faculty and students to rely on personal e-mail and laptops, limiting work at the school.

NDU spokesman Dave …

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Publication information: Article title: NDU Hacked. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: January 12, 2007. Page number: A06. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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