Website defacement

A website defacement is an attack on a website that changes the visual appearance of the site. These are typically the work of system crackers, who break into a web server and replace the hosted website with one of their own.

A message is often left on the webpage stating his or her pseudonym and the output from "uname -a" and the "id" command along with "shout outs" to his or her friends. Sometimes, the Defacer makes fun of the system administrator for failing to maintain server security. Most times, the defacement is harmless, however, it can sometimes be used as a distraction to cover up more sinister actions such as uploading malware.

A high-profile website defacement was carried out on the website of the company SCO Group following its assertion that Linux contained stolen code. The title of the page was changed from "Red Hat v. SCO" to "SCO vs World," with various satirical content following.

External links

• attrition.org deface mirror
• Zone-H.org the largest website defacement archive and IT security resource on the planet
• sco website defacement