Hacker Alters Content on O.C. Register’s Web Site

The Orange County Register said Tuesday that a hacker broke into its Web site recently and changed three stories, editing one article to say Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates had been arrested for breaking into NASA computers.

The Sept. 29 stories were about Jason Diekman’s arrest for breaking into Web sites at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, said Nancy Souza, spokeswoman for the paper.

Some sentences were changed, vulgarities were added, and Gates’ name was substituted for Diekman’s. One sentence claimed to name a confidential source used by prosecutors, but Souza said authorities told Register technicians investigating the break-in that it wasn’t the correct name.

It’s the first time hackers have changed the content on the newspaper’s site, Souza said, adding that the break-in was noticed and fixed in about 45 minutes.

The newspaper has changed security procedures to put a firewall around the entire server, Souza said. Describing the hacker as “sloppy and juvenile,” she said the paper’s technicians have turned over information identifying the person to federal authorities for investigation.