Games Hidden by Anonymous in US Government Websites

Aaron Swartz

We all know the Konami Code, or the Contra Code right? It's been around for eons and is well enough known that if you give enough people a keyboard and a screen, someone will tap it in to see what happens. Usually nothing will happen, but if you were to do so on a few US Government websites right now, you'd find that hackers have left you a little game to play.

This is all part of a protest by hacktivist movement Anonymous, to raise awareness for the suicide of Aaron Swartz, a man the group feels was persecuted by the government. The first one to be targeted was the US Sentencing Commission, which was digitally defaced with the addition of Asteroids, which appeared when the Konami code was entered. Apparently this site was cleaned up over the weekend, but interestingly it's down right now.

Other sites purportedly hit, include the Eastern District of Michigan's United States Probation Office. At the time of writing that site also appears difficult to access.

Fortunately NakedSecurity got a look at these before the disappeared and describes the Asteroids game as sitting on top of the main site. As a user shoots away at the screen, it reveals a message that eulogizes Aaron Swartz.

Chances are there are others out there that have been hit. Have you guys noticed any?

Ps. For those that don't know the code and are too lazy to Google: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, Start (enter)