Ohio government Web site hacked

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The Ohio secretary of state's Web site was restored to full operation Tuesday after a partial shutdown because of security problems.

In a statement released by the office of Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, she said some members of her staff worked overnight to "establish the needed security measures to make certain that no information on the Web site could be compromised," the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Little information was released about the problem. Brunner's office said some information on the site appeared to have changed position, suggesting a hacker was at work, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported.

The State Highway Patrol was investigating the security breach as well as a threatening call received by a member of Brunner's staff and a letter threatening Brunner and containing a white powder.

The Republican National Committee has targeted Ohio and other swing states, suggesting voter fraud is a possibility, especially in situations where the secretary of state or top election official is a Democrat. Democratic efforts have been focused more on preventing potential vote suppression.