IP: Hackers invade Justice Department Web site

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

Hackers invade Justice
Department Web site


August 17, 1996
Web posted at: 7:10 p.m. EDT 


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hackers
infiltrated the Justice Department's
Internet Web site Saturday, adding
swastikas, obscene pictures and
criticism of a law regulating sexually
explicit material on the Internet. 


Government technicians who discovered the problems Saturday
morning closed the site, which the hackers had relabeled as the
"United States Department of Injustice" next to a red, black and
white flag bearing a swastika. 


The text of the page was written over a background of gray
swastikas, and at the top declared in red letters: "This page is in
violation of the Communications Decency Act." 


The page included color pictures of George Washington, Adolf
Hitler, who is identified as the attorney general, and a picture of
actress Jennifer Aniston -- posing topless. Other sexually explicit
images were shown. 


"Somebody did get into the Web page at the Justice Department,"
said agency spokesman Joe Krovisky. He said the site remained
turned off Saturday afternoon. 


The spokesman said Justice officials were not sure initially what
statutes were violated, "but certainly would be against the law."
Possibilities, he said, might be destruction or defacing government
property -- or perhaps trespassing.


Krovisky added that the department expected to have the page
reconstructed and running again by Sunday, or Monday at the
latest. 


The agency Web site is used to post public information, including
government news releases and speeches, Krovisky said. 


Hackers used the majority of the Web site to criticize the
Communications Decency Act, signed in February, which punishes
the distribution to minors of obscene or indecent material over the
Internet. Breaking the law is a felony, punishable by up to two
years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A federal appeals court
declared the law unconstitutional. 


"As the largest law firm in the nation, the Department of Justice
serves to punish all who don't agree with the moral standards set
forth by (President) Clinton," the hackers' page said. "Anything and
anyone different must be jailed." 


The altered Web site said the new law takes away privacy rights
and freedom of speech. 


The doctored page also had links to other Web sites, all
unflattering, about Clinton, Republican presidential nominee Bob
Dole and conservative commentator Pat Buchanan. Those sites,
which are not official campaign sites, were still operating Saturday. 


Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.