Hackers invaded an official Brazilian website on Friday, the third straight day of attacks on government websites here, as a similar attack in Peru prompted police to seek assistance from the FBI.
The home page of the Brazil's Institute of Geography and Statistics was changed early Friday to read: "Hacked IBGE," accompanied by a picture of an eye in the colors of the Brazilian flag, local media reported.
In the adjoining text, a hacker group called "Fail Shell" said it would launch the largest number of virtual attacks ever this month as a protest by a "nationalist group that wants to make Brazil a better country."
An institute spokesman said the hacking only affected the home portal, and that the site's database was still available to users.
In Peru, meanwhile, police sources told AFP that authorities were seeking the assistance from the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in response attacks Thursday on eight government portals.
Among the websites targeted by a group calling itself "Pirates of the Net" were those of the Ministries of Health, Energy, and the portal for the country's prison system, and obtained an unknown amount of government data.
On Wednesday and Thursday, two other hacking groups, Lulz Security and Anonymous, attacked two official Brazilian government websites.
"TANGO DOWN www.brasil.gov.br and www.presidencia.gov.br," said one posting, followed by another saying: "Our Brazilian unit is making progress. Well done @LulzSecBrazil, brothers!"
Lulz Security has claimed responsibility for a month-long flurry of attacks on targets around the world including websites of the CIA, US Senate, Sony and others.
British police working with the FBI announced Tuesday they had arrested a 19-year-old man over the Lulz attacks, but the group has downplayed the arrest.
According to experts at Brazil's Data Processing Service, the first Brazil attack was not intended to invade government networks, but to simultaneously send millions of requests for access to the service that would clog the system and bring it down.