High-Speed Net Access Opens a Door to Hackers

Kevin Kelleher arrived for work at 8 a.m. one day to find a disturbingly familiar high-tech headache for the federal government: Hackers had vandalized the national weather Internet site he manages in Oklahoma.

The hackers replaced important information about storms and tornadoes threatening the Midwest with a smirking taunt for Kelleher addressed to “mister admin person nice guy.”

So far, victims of these types of high-profile electronic assaults have included government agencies, the military and large companies on the Web. In a flurry of activity, hackers in recent weeks have struck the White House, FBI, Senate (twice) and the Army’s main Web site.

Experts warn of an emerging threat to consumers from the next generation of technology: new high-speed connections to the Internet over cable TV or new digital phone lines that are permanently logged on.

Higher speeds carry higher risks: Hackers even thousands of miles away could anonymously probe household computers over the Internet and rummage through e-mail, documents and bank records.

“It vastly and immediately multiplies the amount of poorly protected computers on the Internet ripe for the picking,” said Lucas Graves, an analyst with research firm Jupiter Communications.

Using these continuous Internet connections and the “server” software included free on most new computers, families can publish up-to-the-minute photo albums online or retrieve computer files while traveling. Server software enables computers to “serve up” Web pages requested by other users.

But users may not realize the risks of leaving their digital doors unlocked. A Web site that tracks hackers, Attrition.Org, has recorded more than 1,465 cases of vandalism this year.

“As you get these machines in people’s homes that are always on with a server, with pictures of their cat for Grandma to see, that could be an issue,” said Cormac Foster, another Jupiter analyst.