Two teenagers were detained last night in connection with the hacking of the Fine Gael website earlier this year.

The Fine Gael site was alleged to have been targeted by Anonymous, the vigilante Internet group which has been responsible for a recent spate of attacks on companies and other organisations.

After raiding a house in Birr, Offaly, Donncha Carroll, 18 years old and also the son of independent counsellor John Carroll was detained.

Gardai also uncovered chemicals and equipment, which can be used in the manufacture of ecstasy, at the house in Offaly.

A second man was also detained after a raid on a house in Galway.

Evidence has been seized from both houses allegedly linking both of the accused to the attack on the Fine Gael website.

It is not yet known if the FBI are looking to question the two individuals regarding other crimes committed by Anonymous.

Recent posts on the Sony Music Ireland website suggest that the website has been hacked. On the posts it claims that:

- Two members of the Dublin band The Crypt have comitted suicide

- Scientists have proven tha the X-Factor is for stupid people

- Singer Rebecca Black has married R. Kelly

The website now directs to the Facebook page of Sony Music Ireland which would suggest that an investigation is underway as to how this might have happened.

It is not yet known when the website will come back online and Sony Music Ireland have yet to make a comment.

Personal information including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and passwords have been made public online after the website http://www.theirishfield.ie was hacked. The Gardai and the Data Protection Office has been notified and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the breach.

It is understood that the personal details were posted on the boards.ie website but were taken down shortly after one of the moderators were made aware of the posting. It is believed that the data will surface elsewhere on the Internet however.

As people generally tend to use the same password for numerous accounts, in the case of a breach like this, it can also end up with email addresses and other user accounts being compromised.

It was confirmed this morning that the Fine Gael website was hacked overnight by the Anonymous group.

The site, which is now back online was said to have been compromised due to bad coding.

There is also now privacy concerns for the public that have used and commented on the website as Evening Herald Journalist Kevin Doyle today said he was sent a copy of the site database of 3,800 people who used it to leave comments, including their names, email addresses, phone numbers, location and IP addresses.

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/ireland/eyididqlmhcw/#ixzz1AdISkwTg

Below is the message that greeted visitors to the Fine Gael 2011 Election website located at: http://wwwfinegael2011.com

“Nothing is safe, you put your faith in this political party and they take no measures to protect you. They offer you free speech yet they censor your voice. Wake Up!”

Gardai have been handed over logs and other evidence to investigate the recent attacks on the CAO website which has caused chaos for students this week.  The website was attacked just 10 minutes after the release of first round offers on the site at 6am Monday morning. The site was subsequently attacked on Wednesday by manipulating the forgotten password link which reissued new passwords to 22,000 students.

Denial of Service attacks  can be difficult but not impossible to pinpoint. Usually these attacks are perpetrated by criminal gangs looking to extort money from online websites such as bookies. The attack on the CAO however was purely to cause havoc.

Depending on the severity of the attack on Monday some simple security protocols in place may have averted the whole disaster. According to a leading IT Security firm allowing passwords to be sent out by simply inputting a CAO number would be considered ridiculous for such a high profile website and the CAO really needs to look into better coding practices on it’s website.

Thousands of students have faced massive disruption due to these recent attacks.