By IAN SHERR
A hacker group claimed Wednesday to have successfully knocked the Central Intelligence Agency's website offline, the latest in a string of attacks on U.S. government websites.
"Tango down - cia.gov - for the lulz," the group, known as Lulz Security, said on its Twitter account. Lulz is Internet slang for laughs.
CIA spokesman Preston Golson said the agency was aware its website was malfunctioning, but couldn't provide additional details.
"We're looking into the matter," he said.
The purported attack on the CIA's public information website is the latest in a spree of high-profile attacks by the hacker group, which also calls itself LulzSec. The group has also attacked Japanese technology giant Sony Corp., as well as a few videogame companies.
Earlier this week, the group posted information stolen from the U.S. Senate's public website, along with a taunting comment, "Is this an act of war, gentlemen?"
LulzSec also attacked a Federal Bureau of Investigation affiliate, Infragard. It used information stolen from Infragard to break into a small research company, Unveillance.
The group also claimed to defile the website of broadcaster PBS.
LulzSec isn't alone in hacking into companies and government organizations, but it has attracted online attention because it publishes much of the pilfered information on its website.
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