I have noticed several incidents of computer security fraud which originate off college campuses (both in the press and via my experience as a voluntary researcher.) I will be putting together a post soon. In this case: "NetVision's data security experts, working with government officials, tracked the hackers to university servers in Europe and the US, but are not certain that the attacks originated in the schools, a company statement said." In my experience, computer security fraud is being used for entertainment purposes; for harassment and, now, for serious cyber-attack of government computers in the volatile Middle East situation.

http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/10/25/News/News.14291.html

Government sites under cyber-attack
By Gwen Ackerman

JERUSALEM (October 25) - The current violence has spread into cyberspace, and the newest Arab target is Israel's virtual government.

NetVision announced yesterday that official government Web sites, especially those of the IDF and Foreign Ministry, have recently been attacked by hackers the company suspects are linked to "Arab terrorists." Ori Noy, director of the information division at the Foreign Ministry, said that late Monday night the ministry's site was neutralized for several hours by a flood of intentional Web traffic, most likely e-mail messages and requests.

Other than being off-line for several hours the site was undamaged, he said, noting that the Foreign Ministry, realizing it could be targeted, had taken security precautions, such as installing a firewall.

Still, the Foreign Ministry "views with gravity the fact that the site was not accessible to those who wanted to visit," Noy said. "This technique of attacking Web sites... is an unacceptable act of virtual terrorism."

The IDF Spokesman's Office said that the IDF site showed no evidence of being attacked, despite connection problems stemming from line overload that the army had been experiencing with the Internet service provider since Friday.

NetVision's data security experts, working with government officials, tracked the hackers to university servers in Europe and the US, but are not certain that the attacks originated in the schools, a company statement said.

The repeated assaults have slowed NetVision service, at times blocking subscribers from connecting to the Internet. On Monday, the Internet service provider's system suffered a near total crash, including its customer support department.

"As a company that provides Internet service to the IDF and other government institutions, NetVision has been exposed to violence that is part of the present struggle between Israel and the Palestinians," said CEO Gilad Rabinovich, adding that the company would take all possible steps to insure that its subscribers would be able to connect to the Internet.

Jerusalem Post Staff adds:

Retaliation has been swift. Unnamed hackers have broken into the Hizbullah Web site, www.hizballa.org, and replaced its home page with an image of an Israeli flag and an instrumental recording of "Hatikva."