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Hackers deface SCO site

Controversial company experiences another attack, with defacers targeting SCO's claims to Linux code. Image: Screen shot of SCO hack

Matt Hines Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Matt Hines
covers business software, with a particular focus on enterprise applications.
Matt Hines
2 min read
Hackers defaced SCO Group's Web site on Monday, targeting the company's controversial claims to elements of the Linux operating system.

In a hack that began sometime before 5:30 a.m. PST Monday, someone placed a graphic atop SCO's home page that read "we own all your code" and "pay us all your money." The spoof used the same fonts and colors employed throughout the company's site, along with a copy of the software maker's official logo. By 8:30 a.m. PST, the altered graphic had been removed.

SCO representatives did not immediately return calls seeking comment.


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Monday's hack is the latest in a string of attacks launched against SCO. Earlier this year, the company watched helplessly as a variant of the MyDoom computer virus crippled its site, forcing SCO to resort to an alternate Web address. MyDoom, which is estimated to have infected hundreds of thousands of computers around the world, inundated the Internet with requests for SCO's site, resulting in a denial-of-service attack.

The latest assault was aimed at SCO's long-running campaign that seeks compensation from companies selling and using the Linux operating system. The company launched a lawsuit against IBM last year, claiming that the computing giant illegally gave the open-source community source code from the Unix operating system, which SCO claims to control, for use in Linux.

SCO's efforts have evolved into a far-ranging attack on Linux, attracting legal attention from Linux companies Novell and Red Hat and drawing the ire of Linux supporters worldwide.