Hackers were on attack.

Experts say at least three of the 13 computers that help manage global computer traffic were briefly overwhelmed on Tuesday. They say it is one of the most significant attacks against the Internet since 2002.

"There was what appears to be some form of attack during the night hours here in California and into the morning," said John Crain, chief technical officer for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. He said the attack was continuing and so was the hunt for its origin.

"I don't think anybody has the full picture," Crain said. "We're looking at the data."

VIRTUAL SCENE

• Experts said most computer users didn't notice the attacks, but behind the scenes, computer scientists worldwide raced to cope with enormous volumes of data that threatened to saturate some of the Internet's most vital pipelines.

• Where were the hackers from? Experts said they appeared to disguise their origin, but vast amounts of rogue data in the attacks were traced to South Korea.

• Among the targeted servers: ones operated by the Defense Department and the Internet's primary oversight body.

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