Gtron Solutions, LLC

Large multinational corporations with major offices in New Zealand, such as Coca-cola, Xerox, and Microsoft, have reported that their site have been defaced with various images implying rebellion and terrorism. Political messages such as “Stop the war Israel!” also appeared whenever a user clicks on the hacked website.

Microsoft said the sites for MSN, Windows Live, Hotmail and MSDN was attacked but it is not clear if any user data has been compromised.

An investigation of the hacks pointed to a host based in the Netherlands but no clear details have been made available on the group responsible or how hacking had been made. The IP address was traced to leaseweb.com but the injected name server records were traced to a domain registered to Domainz, a subsidiary company of the Australia-based MelbourneIT.

One of the images that appear on a hacked web site is a shadow of a man on his back, carrying rifles on both hands.

Domainz has denied knowledge of the attack and could not say how the hack was done. An official of the company said they can’t say what and how many more domains are going to be attacked as they are still investigating the incident.

Terrorists have a propensity to use hacking to sow fear and create an illusion of omnipotence. In 2008, several hacking incidents and botnet attacks have been reported that were traced to the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.