Hackers crash Aussie charity websites

The internet services of two Australian autism support organisations have been crashed by computer hackers and a third may also have fallen victim, raising fears of a targeted attack to coincide with autism month.

Austism Spectrum Australia (ASPECT), the country's autism service provider, is losing hundreds of dollars in online donations each day after its website was hit by hackers early on Sunday.

The hackers closed web forums, a group email service and registration pages for events.

The codeword-restricted intranet site for the autism training organisation Positive Partnerships was also hit.

Austism Victoria's intranet service also went down.

The first two attacks were traced to IP addresses in the United States and experts said they appeared to be deliberate.

- © Fairfax NZ News