Hackers gather regularly to display their latest gadgets and share tips.
For some hackers, weaned on the movie Wargames and already nursing an anarchic streak, the Pentagon represents the Holy Grail of hacks. Hacking attempts are relatively common at the Pentagon. But recently, according to the No. 2 civilian official there, the Department of Defense's computers have been compromised and penetrated by the most widespread and systematic attacks to date. The hackers, Hamre says, only managed to get into nonclassified systems, and on the surface, the incidents did not appear to be connected to the recent showdown with Iraq. Still, every branch of service was affected, and the attempted attacks involved a number of systems that handle personnel and payroll records, among others.