Nation IN BRIEF : MASSACHUSETTS : Racist Hacker Shuts Down Internet Firm

A hacker planted swastikas and racist messages in the computer system of a small Internet provider, using the e-mail address of a company administrator, before briefly shutting down the system. When BerkshireNet tried to stop him, the hacker turned increasingly nasty, bragging of invulnerability and making personal threats, company managers said. The hacker sneaked into the system Tuesday and erased all the data on two computers, said Jason Hatch, system administrator for BerkshireNet. The company’s subscribers pay for access to the Internet and live mostly in Berkshire County, Mass. Susan Lloyd, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington, said the agency is investigating the BerkshireNet hacker. She would not elaborate.