GWBush.hammerandsickle.com

[<KDean75206@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

October 20, 1999

Hackers Alter Bush Campaign Site

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The day after presidential candidate George W. Bush
redesigned his campaign's Web site, hackers vandalized it by replacing
his photo with a hammer and sickle and calling for ``a new October
revolution.''

A spokeswoman, Mindy Tucker, said the campaign's more sensitive computer
operations -- such as its e-mail system and contribution records -- were
protected on other machines and weren't believed to have been
compromised.

The embarrassing security lapse Tuesday came the day after the Bush
campaign launched what it described as its ``innovative new design'' for
its Internet site, www.georgewbush.com.

``We have taken steps to make sure this particular problem is fixed, and
we are looking at other ways to further secure the site,'' Tucker said.
The campaign was considering whether to formally notify the authorities,
such as the FBI, she said.

A review of the Bush site by The Associated Press listed computer files
plainly visible that experts -- including the Microsoft Corp. --
recommend deleting for security reasons. One file includes instructions
for users to edit Web pages on the site.

``It means to me there is no security policy for this site,'' said Russ
Cooper, a specialist who runs the popular NTBugtraq discussion group on
the Internet. ``It's typically unfortunate that a lot of these people do
not take the time to protect themselves from this kind of
embarrassment.''

The hackers replaced a news story about Bush on his Web site with a note
that ``the success or failure of the working class to achieve victory
depends upon a revolution (of) leadership.''

The Web site runs software from Microsoft, called Internet Information
Server, that has suffered several serious security problems during the
past year. Microsoft has distributed patches in each case but relies on
local computer administrators to install them correctly.

Another security expert, Weld Pond, said there was ``no question'' that
the Bush campaign neglected to remove remnants of sample computer code,
which made the site vulnerable.

``That's probably how they got in,'' said Pond, a consultant with L0pht
Heavy Industries of Boston. ``The fact that there are these sample files
on there is pretty problematic, meaning they didn't take much effort to
secure it.''

Tucker said the campaign's own investigation found that the altered Web
page was accessible by the public for fewer than five minutes before a
backup system kicked in and restored the vandalized text with a fresh
copy.

``The (hammer and sickle) image wasn't subtle,'' said Jeremy Pinnix, a
director at a Nashville, Tenn., design company. He noticed the change
while looking at the site early Tuesday and captured a snapshot of the
altered page.

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