Websites' safety not guaranteed: Dutch government

An official also said the government was taking over the company's operations.

The announcement affects millions of people who use the Netherlands' government's online services and rely on the authenticator, DigiNotar, to confirm they are visiting the correct sites.

To date, however there have been no reports of anyone's identity being stolen or security otherwise breached. Officials stopped short of telling people not to use government websites but said they should heed warnings posted on the sites or from their browsers. Already, Google and other major Web browser providers have begun rejecting security certificates issued by DigiNotar.

It is unclear who is behind the hacking, though some experts suspect it was launched by Iran's government to spy on dissidents. The hacking's true extent also is unclear, and investigators are trying to find out how many bogus certificates were issued, and what other sites or countries were affected.

For now in the Netherlands "the user of government sites no longer has the guarantee ... that he is on the site where he wanted to be," Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner said at a pre-dawn press conference.

DigiNotar, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Vasco Inc., is one of many firms that issues security certificates for the "SSL" cryptographic protocol certificates that in effect, act as the stamp of a digital notary guaranteeing the privacy of communications between a user's browser and a website.

Earlier in the week, DigiNotar acknowledged it had been hacked in July, though it didn't disclose it at the time. It insisted as late as Tuesday that its certificates for government sites had not been compromised. But Donner said a review by an external security company had found DigiNotar's government certificates were in fact compromised, and the government is now taking control of the company's operations.

The government also is trying to shift over to other companies that act as digital notaries, he said. "As distressing as this situation is for DigiNotar, the company is cooperating in a professional manner," he said.

DigiNotar could not be reached for comment Saturday. In a press statement dated Friday, Vasco chief executive Ken Hunt said the company was "inviting" the Dutch government to send staff to DigiNotar and was "convinced that together we will solve this issue."