Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Hacker disrupts Parliament-funded website

Updated at 12:05 pm on 20 September 2010

A taxpayer-funded website that archives Question Time in Parliament has been hacked.

The site, inthehouse.co.nz, was compromised on Saturday and only fixed on Monday morning.

Until then, the site carried a message saying it had been hacked, and showed a Turkish flag with message underneath "best regards to all world" (sic).

The website is paid for by the Clerk of the House of Representatives and lists Questions in Parliament, shows footage from the Parliament TV service and lists Bills before the House.

The site was established by Christchurch-based Tandem Studios, which is trying to establish whether the site itself or a server managed by a hosting company was vulnerable.

The company's director, Dave Dunlay, doesn't believe the attack was political in nature.

A spokesperson from the Clerk's office says it will review its contract with Tandem Studios, and wants to know if the company's security is sufficient.

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