Turkish hacking group NetDevilz has successfully hacked the websites for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.

The two organisations are key to the running of the internet and the attack is highly embarrassing to the site's administrators.

Visitors to the page were redirected to an atspace.com domain hosting a message from the hackers.

'You think that you control the domains but you don't! Everybody knows wrong. We control the domains including Icann! Don't you believe us?' the message read.

NetDevilz describes itself as a "loveable Turkish hackers' group".

The attack is particularly embarrassing for Icann after it approved generic domain names in what it calls "a milestone" in the development of the internet.

NetDevilz was behind a similar attack earlier this year against the pornography site Redtube.