Chinese and American computer hackers were engaged in an all-out cyber war Tuesday

Chinese and American computer hackers were engaged in an all-out cyber war Tuesday, with U.S. hackers launching a counter-attack to Monday's massive Chinese defacement of U.S. Web sites. Calling their effort "Project China: Asia Domination,"U.S. hackers have been organizing to deface Chinese Web sites, according to the Internet security firm Vigilinx, which has been closely monitoring the activity. Right now, the Chinese hackers appear to be winning the war, having defaced 76 American Web sites late Tuesday morning to the American hackers, who have hit 63 Chinese sites, Vigilinx said. But the tables could soon change. Jerry Freese, director of intelligence at Vigilinx, said the American hackers have mostly been individuals going up against a highly organized Chinese hacking initiative. But now, the U.S. hackers are officially organizing. In a mostly obscene message directed at the Chinese hackers, a Web site defaced by American hackers reads in part, "Get ready to meet a strike force with strength the world has never seen before! We are going for all out cyber warfare on your .gov.cn boxes and every other box that you ... haven't secured! Hold onto your boots because many will fall to the wrath of the blood bath!" Freese said Vigilinx had not verified that the message represented a hacking coalition, but he said the information his firm was compiling indicated the American hackers were organizing. The Chinese-American hacker war picked up Monday when Chinese computer hackers launched a massive attack against U.S. Web sites, including those of United Press International, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Navy's communication center. The attacks were aimed at the U.S. in retaliation for the April 1 collision between a U.S. Navy surveillance plane and a Chinese fighter jet, which the Chinese say was caused by the Americans. By Tuesday, American hackers were targeting Chinese government sites, as well as the Web sites for a Chinese university and what appeared to be a non-profit organization.