18Sep CERN hacked before Big Bang

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NEW DELHI: When the whole world’s attention was on the much-publicised `Big Bang‘ on September 10 — particle collider tests are actually a few weeks away — a motley group of `grey hat‘ hackers from Greece managed to crack into CERN’s (The European Organisation for Nuclear Research) network.

Though the hackers did not cause much harm, nor could they fiddle with any of the sensitive information, the attempt has left the CERN administration alarmed and reviewing its security levels.

After sneaking into the system and uploading some six files on CERN’s servers, the hackers withdrew after posting a warning that suggested that even the whole world’s security was just not enough for those who could violate it!

Even as world’s top scientists were all eyes on the matrix on September 10, the Web went less guarded, it seems. Little wonder, the hackers who described themselves as Greek Security team, said those manning the LHC infrastructure were just a “bunch of school kids,” reported British newspaper The Telegraph on Friday.

It now appears that they were just a step away from breaching the systems that control one of the LHC detectors (one of the crucial, giant 12,500 ton magnets). They had targeted the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment (CMS) which is one of the four main systems at CERN that will be analysing the most crucial Big Bang tests.

India Times