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To: E. Graphs who wrote (12314)	11/3/1999 2:35:00 PM
From: SIer formerly known as Joe B.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62551

Hackers introduce 'taxes on stupidity' on Romanian government Web site BUCHAREST, Romania, Nov 03, 1999 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) -- Hackers broke into the Finance Ministry's Web site, introducing bogus ''taxes on stupidity'' and changing the exchange rate of Romania's national currency. The government was working to upgrade security, but the Web site remains down while efforts to fix the damage are under way, Adriana Saftoiu, a government spokeswoman, said Wednesday. ''In future we will try to have better security systems,'' she said. The hackers entered the site last week, changing it to say the ministry had introduced taxes on stupidity levied in direct proportion with the importance of the position held. Money gathered from the new taxes would be used to bribe NATO officials to take Romania into the military alliance, the hacked site said. They also altered the exchange rate for the national currency to make the lei worth twice as much as the dollar, a far cry from the central bank's official rate of 17,033 lei to dlrs 1. In a note left for the site's system administrator, the hackers said: ''Your page was quite cool, but we had to make a name for ourselves, too.'' They also left an e-mail address where they could be contacted for advice on how to fix the site. So far, however, that address has not revealed their identity. -0- (PROFILE (WS SL:BC-Romania-Hackers; CT:i; (REG:MEST;) (REG:ENGL;) (REG:AFRI;) (REG:ASIA;) (LANG:ENGLISH;)) ) * end of story *