Hackers hit Microsoft's NZ website

Microsoft took a cream pie to the face yesterday after hackers redirected MSN's New Zealand traffic to a fake website.

Visitors to news website www.msn.co.nz were presented with a blacked-out page on which the phrase "Microsoft New Zealand hacked by Peace Crew" was pasted above a photo of Microsoft founder Bill Gates with cream pie on his face.

A source said the hackers attacked a server belonging to web hosting company Domainz  which registered the MSN website  and redirected traffic to the fake website.

In a statement yesterday MSN said it had identified the cause of the problem and Microsoft technology and security teams were working to resolve it.

The hackers are understood to be a pro-Palestinian group from Turkey and are thought to be responsible for attacks on NATO and United States army websites earlier this year.

No Microsoft services were affected by the attack.