One of the best resources for veterans who have problems with the Veterans Affairs Department is the VA Watchdog Web site founded and edited by Larry Scott.
If you visited the site today, you likely only saw a bare bones page that explains the site was hacked and destroyed. Scott told me the hack occurred on Nov. 20, and he has been struggling since then to find a new hosting company that can accommodate his high traffic load.
The hack consisted of a massive denial of service attack, followed by loading of malware onto the server, he said. Scott added it looks like the attack came from hackers in Russia or its one of its former states, searching for Web servers with weak security controls.
Scott says he expects to have a full-fledged site in operation in two to three days.
COMMENTS
Hackers from Russia? I doubt it. What's their interest? Anybody can get a series of accounts in the erstwhile USSR where languages are complex and alphabets are "strange" - follow-up would be next to impossible. I'd say look for the problem right here at home, and very possibly near the victim. Follow the money, as the cops say.
Chuck 12/07/09 08:43 am ET
Larry Scott has served the Veteran community well. I would appreciate any assistance your readers could give Larry to assist him in getting back online. Thank you.
Semper Fi
John Q. Public 11/30/09 05:23 pm ET