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Nike Web Site Seized By ProtestersAnti-Globalization Hackers Hijack Site, Call For Protest In AustraliaDan Bernard, Staff Writer June 22, 2000, 1:30 p.m. EDT
MINNEAPOLIS -- In a hack attack first reported by Channel 6000, the Web site of shoe maker Nike was commandeered and rewritten Wednesday, apparently by protesters opposed to economic globalization. A company spokeswoman said Nike had notified the FBI and would do everything possible to find and prosecute the responsible parties. At or before 10 a.m. Central time, hackers commandeered Nike's Web site name and replaced it with a call to protest at an upcoming global trade meeting in Melbourne, Australia. A linked page noted that Nike is a member of a multinational business group called the World Economic Forum that promotes "policies that will benefit the rich and the powerful at the expense of the majority of the world's people and the environment." The hackers' message called for protesters to stage a "shutdown" of the WEF's scheduled Sept. 11 meeting in Melbourne. Although a Nike spokeswoman said the company had regained control of the corporate site name by 1:30 p.m. Central time, the hackers' message was still visible at www.nike.com at 3 p.m. Central. The Web page was blank around 3:45 p.m. Central. The hackers linked to s11.org, which criticizes economic globalization, reminiscent of anarchist groups that caused civil disobedience during the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle in late 1999. (Skip to archive articles from Seattle protests) S11 is apparently shorthand for "September 11," the date of the WEF meeting. A page on s11.org includes a "call to action" predicting civil disobedience at the Australia meeting: "This September the worldwide social movement of creative resistance against globalization will continue to raise its voice against the institutions of greed & exploitation ... Like the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the IMF/World Bank, the World Economic Forum is a means of promoting economic and social policies that will benefit the rich and the powerful at the expense of the majority of the world's people and the environment." Nike's director of corporate media relations, Corby Casler, called the criticism misplaced, saying that Nike and the WEF will "ensure that we have workers rights in the forefront on a global basis." Casler said Nike has worked hard in recent years to correct incidents of underage workers and potentially unsafe working conditions at its overseas factories.
Familiar Target The giant shoe and apparel corporation based in Beaverton, Ore., has been targeted frequently as a representation of the dehumanizing evils of economic globalization.The company has defended itself in recent years against reports of unsafe conditions and underage workers at its oversea factories. And during last year's protests of the global trade regulatory body, the WTO, activists trashed the storefront of company store Niketown. "That's getting kind of old," Casler said of the rhetoric on the s11 site. "They had the same message at Seattle ... They always target whoever's on top." In Wednesday's site-jacking, hackers affixed the name "s-11" and linked to s11.org, a domain name that is registered to a Lachlan Murdoch of Melbourne. Calls to this listed phone number received a busy signal. Lachlan Murdoch is also the name of the son of Australian-born media mogul Rupert Murdoch, raising speculation that the name was fake. The s11 site calls for civil disobedience to disrupt the September WEF meeting. Nike's Casler said that globalization skeptics should participate in the forum, not obstruct it. "The World Economic Forum has leaders from industry and governments and all over talking about how we should manage the global economy," Casler said. "It's interesting that they (the hackers) would do this. It's a great forum for them to want to join in. They'll have the attention of a lot of high-profile people."
Nike Slow To Respond? A Web-name provider that was apparently manipulated in the hack attack -- UK-based FrugalNames" -- complained that Nike representatives had been difficult to reach to repair the vandalism.FrugalNames's parent company, FirstNET Online of Edinburgh, Scotland, posted a disclaimer on the protest page disavowing responsibility for the hack and implying that Nike's response system was flawed: "We have endeavoured to contact the relevant officials at Nike, [but] the technical and other contacts [listed elsewhere on the Web as being responsible for Nike's real site] are no longer with the company, and the numbers listed therein are not working numbers. We faxed a letter to the Head Office for Nike, Inc., and have telephoned three times, but our calls have not been returned. ... Assuming that this happening is not attributed to Nike, Inc., through error or omission, it cannot be overstated that such a breach in their security has a knock-on effect for our company and our clients." Nike's Casler said she did not know whom FirstNET tried to contact and so could not address their comments. She said she lacked the technical expertise to appraise the speed of Nike's response. Related Links:
Copyright 2001 by Channel 6000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
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Instead of seeing the company's own material, Internet users visiting the shoe company's Web site at www.nike.com saw the message "Global justice is coming -- prepare now!" and a photo of three youthful protesters with drums and upraised arms (image at right).
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