"Islamic hackers again fail to disrupt Vatican web site" - CWNews

For some reason this event really amuses me:

For the second time in as many months, computer hackers affiliated with a radical Islamic group tried and failed to penetrate the Vatican web site, the Italian AGI news service reports.

Islamic militants who identified themselves as "leaders of the electronic jihad" announced on their own internet sites that they would launch a "large-scale battle" against the Vatican site this week, in response to what they saw as insults against Islam by Pope Benedict XVI. The exact form of the attack was not explained.

According to the AGI news story, an attack was launched on November 9, but thwarted by security measures on the Vatican site. A similar effort to disrupt the Vatican internet site was made in October-- again without any significant effect.

The Vatican web site -- one of the busiest on the internet-- has tight security measures in place, informed sources say. And Vatican computer-security personnel had ample warning of the Islamic hackers' plans. [CWNews]

I guess what really gets me is the (somewhat prejudiced) image I have in my mind of a bunch of radical Islamic men huddled around a dilapidated computer in the middle of a desert proclaiming themselves the "leaders of the electronic jihad." Well, they're not much of a challenge for Michael, it seems.

The scary thing is, of course, that they would probably attack Vatican.va without the ".va" if they had the means at their disposal.