Hackers hit official site again

Hackers attacked a government Web site for the second consecutive day yesterday, forcing officials to close it.

The site, the home page of the Interactive Government Services Directory, was hit at 3pm and remained closed early today. Officials said the problem was similar to Saturday's, when the site was shut for 10 hours after the messages 'Own3d by the Crows' and 'hacked by O Analista' were posted on the site.

'We resumed service at 2am after a defacement [on Saturday], but the Web site was still subjected to further attacks,' a spokesman said. 'The outward symptoms of the two attacks are similar, with the home page being defaced and replaced by messages.' The site offers traffic information and investment advice. The Government said police had been called in.