Dateline: FRANKFORT, KentuckyState investigators believe French hackers have been using the Transportation Cabinet's computers to store pirated computer files including newly released movies and video games.
State Auditor Ed Hatchett said he believed the hackers entered the system on April 2, and have been using it since. Because the hackers also gained access to the system's administrator and user password files, they could be able to manipulate any state file on the infected network, Hatchett said.
"These unknown person or persons have as much control over the Transportation Cabinet's system as those users of the system who are authorized in the department," Hatchett said.
Transportation Cabinet employees also used about 35 state computers to access pornographic Web sites 6,000 times on four randomly chosen days, investigators learned in a separate finding.
Based on the Internet addresses investigators were able to trace, they suspect the hackers were from France, said B.J. Bellamy, chief information for the auditor's office. Other Internet addresses they found were based in Canada and Croatia, Bellamy said.
Hackers had used the Transportation Cabinet's computer system "in capacity and in processing power" to store and distribute movies, music recordings, computer games and television shows.
Copyrighted medical textbooks also were posted and distributed, and the system was playing host to an Internet chat room.
At least two movies _ "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life" and "Spy Kids 3D: Game Over" _ were posted to the site within 24 hours of their release last Friday, according to the report. Other movies, in French, including "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring," "Bloodwork," and "Die Another Day" were also stored there.
Russell said the cabinet is also investigating to determine which employees accessed the Internet pornography.
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