Is AT&T being targeted by partisan hackers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Security-information company LogiKeep Inc. says that notes posted in recent anti-Israel site defacements indicate that attacks against the telco are planned.

The messages, from a group called GForce Pakistan, suggest the group is planning to reroute traffic from AT&T's Web site to competitor Qwest Communications International Inc.'s site. The notes predict more attacks against Israel and offer help in coordinating the actions. About 20 sites, including those for the World Peace Center, Borha Torah, and Centexchange, have been defaced with political taunts or photos of children allegedly injured by Israeli troops.

LogiKeep execs speculate that AT&T attacks may stem from a request by the Israeli government for backup servers from the company. AT&T is aware of the threats and is prepared to defend its network, says a company spokesman. AT&T declined to detail what, if any, additional security steps have been taken.

Threats against AT&T come days after pro-Palestinian hackers launched a failed denial-of-service attack against Lucent Technologies Inc..