The CIA’s website was taken offline for several hours yesterday. The hacker group LulzSec has claimed credit for the cyber attack, in addition to numerous others including Sony and Nintendo sites.

The CIA’s site was taken down by a denial of service attack, which means “overloading the site’s server with requests for access,” reports the Washington Post.

These cyber break-ins underscore the need for better protection of sensitive information online. It's not a new phenomenon, though; the CIA's website was also taken offline back in 1996.

LolzSec recently announced that it would take requests for which sites it would attack next; the group has a website that relates its latest deeds as well as a Twitter feed. Its Twitter motto: “The world's leaders in high-quality entertainment at your expense.”

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