Incident follows other high-profile break-ins

Computer hackers disabled the Web site of The Associated Press early on Wednesday, leaving various names such as Benny Hill and Punisher under a banner reading “Owned by HFURY” on the organization’s home page. The Web site of the press cooperative, www.ap.org, was down in the early hours of Wednesday morning local time. Dotcom Scoop, a newsgroup focused on events within the Internet and technology sectors, reported on its own site early Wednesday that the vandals were a Brazilian group which claims responsibility for a total of 134 Web site defacements.