U.S.: PLEASE DON'T HACK IRAQ

U.S.: PLEASE DON'T HACK IRAQ
The American government hacking its foes? Great idea, the Bush Administration says. Individual hackers messing with Saddam's computer networks? Now that's a problem.
"The U.S. government does not condone so-called 'patriot hacking' on its behalf," reads an announcement on the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) website. "Even 'patriotic hackers' can be fooled into launching attacks against their own interests by exploiting malicious code that purports to attack the other side when in fact it is designed to attack the interests of the side sending it. In this and other ways, 'patriotic hackers' risk becoming tools of their enemy.''
So what should the computer-minded do to help out the country?
In a word: worry.
There's likely to be an uptick "in global hacking activities as a result of the increasing tensions between the United States and Iraq," the NIPC tells us. "All users should be aware that malicious code (e.g., worms and viruses) can be introduced to spread rapidly by using patriotic or otherwise catchy titles."