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Ukrainian hackers claim takedown of NATO Web sites

A "significant" DDoS attack targeted NATO sites but did not affect the integrity of the organization's systems, a spokesperson says.

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Steven Musil
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Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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An image posted by hacktivist group Cyber Berkut. Cyber Berkut

Pro-Russian Ukrainian hackers claimed responsibility for a cyberattack that took down several NATO Web sites amid rising tensions over military incursions into the Crimean peninsula.

A hactivist group calling itself Cyber Berkut claimed to have launched attacks Saturday that took down NATO's main page and that of NATO's cyberdefense center. The group also claimed to have taken down the site for NATO's Parliamentary Assembly.

NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu confirmed on Twitter that several NATO sites had been the target of a "significant" distributed-denial-of-service attack but said the integrity of the systems was unaffected and experts were working to restore normal functionality.

The attacks came on the eve of Sunday's referendum on whether Ukraine's Crimea region should join Russia. The UN Security Council introduced a resolution declaring the referendum invalid, but Russia vetoed the resolution Saturday.

Along with an escalation in cross-border hacking activity, Internet censorship has also seen a recent increase. The Russian government ordered Russian ISPs to block access to a handful of Russian Web sites noted for their criticism of President Vladimir Putin and his government.