HACKERS Hit Local Web Site

Sunday, May 6th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A tit-for-tat cyber battle has been going on between US and Chinese hackers since April. On Sunday, the battle hit close to Green Country as ktul.com was attacked by a Chinese group calling themselves the Honker Union of China Hacking Group.

The group has defaced several e-commerce, travel and press websites with anti-American messages. Rumors of a planned anti-American cyberwar by Chinese hackers from April 30 through May 7 arose after the federal government's National Infrastructure Protection Center issued the following advisory on April 26:

"Chinese hackers have publicly discussed increasing their activity during this period, which coincides with the dates of historic significance to the PRC [People's Republic of China]," the advisory reads. "May 1 is May Day; May 4 is Youth Day; and, May 7 is the anniversary of the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade" by the United States in 1999.

American hackers, who historically have not infiltrated foreign government websites in any great numbers, have defaced hundreds of Chinese websites since the highly publicized recent incident involving a US spy plane. The websites are listed on the non-profit group Attrition.org's website