Hackers break into computer giants

Hackers have broken into some of the world’s most powerful computer systems in recent weeks in an apparently coordinated cyber attack targeting research and academic institutions.

Although officials in the US sought today to play down the seriousness of the threats, some security experts warned that such a break-in could potentially enable a serious attack on the Internet.

Stanford University, the National Centre for Atmospheric Research, the San Diego Supercomputer Centre and the University of Illinois’ National Centre for Supercomputing Applications were among the systems hit.

In a statement, the atmospheric centre said its supercomputers were compromised, and parts of its networks have been taken offline indefinitely.

Also affected was TeraGrid, a government-funded effort to link together several supercomputers, including those at San Diego and NCSA, so scientists can better process data for weather forecasting, astronomy and medicine.

“There’s been some unauthorised access, but it’s not that anything has been damaged or taken over,” said Catherine Foster of Argonne National Laboratory, home to TeraGrid’s coordinator. “This seems to be part of an effort by hackers to gain merit badges.”

Foster said some TeraGrid computers had to be taken offline while security upgrades were made, disrupting research. She said the attacks began in March and that all systems should be restored by the end of the week.