Web threat was not worth the publicity it received

It seems that anyone with a few hours to kill and a little free Web space can get into the headlines nowadays, no matter how weak the threat they pose to national security may be. A Department of Homeland Security spokesman said last week that the department was not going to issue a warning because some Internet punks were threatening to vandalize a bunch of Web sites. That announcement of non-action, of course, became news. Before our capable and well-intentioned civil servant made that move, the vandal’s site at www.defacers-challenge.com was just another hapless bit of junk cluttering the Internet. Now, the protectors of our national borders, both real and virtual, have tipped the world off that some idiots wanted to try a coordinated attack on our electronic infrastructure. Instead of quashing any chance of the attempt actually happening, the publicity opened the door for any geek with an Internet connection and time to kill to vandalize a Web site. Full Story