Crackers Break Into Nasdaq and AMEX Websites.

A group of crackers who claim they were also responsible for attacks on the websites of Matt Drudge and C-SPan today unleashed their fury on two financial institutions -- breaking into and modifying the contents of the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq websites. According to reports published today, a cracker group calling themselves the "United Loan Gunmen" broke into the sites shortly after midnight, altering the contents of several pages and even allegedly creating their own email account on one of the systems. The Associated Press is reporting that the group left a message on the cracked websites in which it claimed it was trying to "make stocks rise drastically, thus making all investors happy, hopefully ending with the investors putting bumper stickers on their Mercedez_ that say "Thanks ULG!" Although the attack was a clearly visible embarrassment for the Nasdaq and ASX, suggestions that the integrity of their trading systems might have been compromised have been dismissed.