Computer used by hackers traced

WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 12: Experts investigating the attacks on major commercial web sites this week confirmed that a computer and an intern...

WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 12: Experts investigating the attacks on major commercial web sites this week confirmed that a computer and an internet device, used by vandals as weapons, have been traced to two Universities in California.

The vandals used a desktop computer at the University of California in Santa Barbara and an internet router (a device that can amplify data traffic) at Stanford University, officials at both schools acknowledged on Friday.

There was no indication that anyone at either universities were directly involved, only that their equipments were used. Experts believe that dozens of computers were hacked using electronic attack software installed secretly on the desktops.

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"They’ve attacked us in a way that hurts what we do as an university, and hurts all universities," said Robert Sugar, its board Chairman in Santa Barbara. The school’s computer was believed to have been used in an attack against CNN’s web site on Tuesday.

Stanford said one of its routers located at a remote wildlife preserve was used to transmit some of the data aimed against E-Bay’s web site for about 30 minutes before engineers blocked hackers from using it. "It’s really out in the middle of nowhere," said Dave Brumley, Assistant Computer Security Officer at the school.

Meanwhile, experts investigating the case suggested that the vandals in Monday’s attack against the Yahoo! web site may have been far more sophisticated than originally believed.

But E-mail from Yahoo! engineers, describing the attack in unprecedented detail, said the vandals apparently "knew about our topology and planned this large-scale attack in advance."