[August 11, 2011] Sheriff's Department website back online Tweet Aug 09, 2011 (The Joplin Globe - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- COLUMBUS, Kan. -- The Cherokee County Sheriff's Department's website was down for about two weeks, finally going back online Sunday. The situation was a result of hackers, but not because the site was hacked, said Sheriff David Groves. He said the Web hosting company, Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing in Mountain Home, Ark., removed the websites of its customers to boost security to protect them from hackers that have targeted the websites of police agencies. According to news reports, a hacking group called Antisec has attacked more than 70 websites of police agencies, claiming to have accessed information including credit card and Social Security numbers, and contact information of police informants. Antisec is associated with Anonymous, a so-called "hacktivist" group. Several people linked with Anonymous were arrested in July in connection with cyber attacks it called "Operation Avenge Assange," for Julian Assange, the leader of WikiLeaks. The Antisec attacks were a response to the arrests, according to an apparent news release from the group on the website pastebin.com. It called the suspects "political prisoners." Groves said there was never any danger of sensitive information being accessed through the Sheriff's Department website, because no sensitive information was stored there. Groves said the Web hosting company established more secure servers for the department's website. He said users of the website who are accustomed to receiving emails of news releases and jail inmate rosters will have to wait awhile longer. He said the company is working to restore that capability. Probe SHERIFF DAVID GROVES said the FBI is probing the hacking incidents. To see more of The Joplin Globe or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.joplinglobe.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Joplin Globe, Mo. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]