Hackers target more federal computers.

Computer hackers are vowing to attack more government sites on the Internet, because of an FBI investigation. Hackers defaced a Web page on Monday within the Interior Department and a site run by a federal supercomputer laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho,claiming "It_s our turn to hit them where it hurts." Last week, hackers defaced the U.S. Senate Web site, causing it to be taken offline until the weekend. The FBI also was forced to take down its own Internet site last week after hackers launched an electronic attack against it. It remained inaccessible Monday, along with the Web site for its National Infrastructure Protection Center, which helps investigate computer crimes. Messages left at the attacked sites suggest they were vandalized to retaliate against FBI investigation of specific hacker groups, including the group that boasted of breaking into the White House site last month. The FBI confirmed it executed four search warrants last week in Texas related to an investigation into allegations of computer intrusion, including one search at the home of a prominent hacker in Houston. At the site maintained by the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, a note threatened the electronic destruction of the powerful computers that "serve" pages on the Internet "if the FBI doesn_t stop." "We could have done worse, like destroying completely all servers," the note said. "We can do it if we want, but hackers are waiting for Justice"... He added, "We don_t want to proceed that way," and called the electronic attacks the "only resource" of the hacker community. The FBI in Washington declined comment Monday. Earlier this month, a grand jury in northern Virginia indicted Eric Burns, 19, on three counts of computer intrusion. Burns is reportedly known on the Internet as "Zyklon" and is believed to be a member of the group that claimed responsibility for the attacks on the White House and Senate sites. "Zyklon" was one of a dozen names listed on the hacked version of the White House Web site, which was altered overnight Sunday for a few minutes before government computers automatically detected the intrusion. Burns was accused of breaking into a computer used by the U.S. Information Agency between August 1998 and January 1999.