Facebook, Google, CIA Were Among Targets in Dutch Hacker Attack

Facebook Inc. and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency were among the targets of an attack by hackers against Netherlands-based Internet-safety company DigiNotar BV, the Dutch government said.

Web security company Fox-It determined that hackers issued fraudulent safety certificates for websites run by companies including Microsoft Corp., Google Inc. and Facebook as well as the CIA, according to research posted on the government’s website yesterday. DigiNotar provides safety certificates for state and commercial websites in the Netherlands.

The Dutch government said Sept. 3 it no longer trusts certificates issued by DigiNotar, a unit of Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois-based VASCO Data Security International Inc. ”A part of Dutch Internet traffic is no longer safe,” the government said.

Experts suspect the hackers operated with the cooperation of Iran’s government, possibly in an attempt to spy on dissidents, the Associated Press reported yesterday, citing Ot van Daalen, director of Bits of Freedom, an online civil liberties organization.