Jury still out on hacking 
                By Rose Aguilar
                August 18, 1996, 1:30 p.m. PT 

                The hackers that took over the Justice
                Department's home page have stirred up the
                debate about the government's ability and role in
                regulating the Internet. 

                Some Internet activists are praising the hackers
                that turned the U.S. Department of Justice home
                page into the "Department of Injustice" this
                weekend, because it demonstrates the agency’s
                own weakness in regulating activities on the Net. 

                But others have condemned the hackers because
                their tasteless actions offer an excellent example of
                why the government should get more involved in
                monitoring the Internet. 

                On Saturday Justice Department home page
                visitors were greeted by swastikas, nude photos,
                and George Washington saying "Move my grave
                to a free country! This rolling is making me an
                insomniac!" 

                Anticensorship hackers, hoping to get their point
                across, changed the home page to read the
                Department of Injustice, stating that "Big Brother is
                watching you! Hail your new master!" 

                The Justice Department said it received complaints
                on Saturday about its "redesigned" home page and
                promptly took down the site. It was restored
                Sunday afternoon and internal communications
                were not affected. 

                A department spokesman said today that the
                department is taking "reasonable action" to catch
                the perpetrators, but wouldn’t elaborate. Entering
                a government computer without authorization is a
                crime punishable by up to five years in prison. 

                The hackers also expressed concern about the
                government taking away citizens' rights to freedom
                and free speech, including wiretapping and
                unwarranted searches of private property. "Free
                speech in the land of the free? Privacy in a state of
                wiretaps and government intrusion? It is hard to
                trick hundreds of millions of people out of their
                freedoms," the site read. 

                The hackers were expressing their opposition to
                the Communications Decency Act, but many
                Internet activists say such actions are making
                matters worse, not better. 

                "This is precisely the thing we don't need: bad
                publicity. To the guys that did this...thanks for
                giving the real CDA-fighters a bad name," said one
                activist who posted comments in the Fight
                Censorship news group. 

                Another comment read: "This'll definitely cost us
                some of the hard work we've done and headway
                we've gained in establishing credibility for a
                cyber-rights movement." 

                But others disagree and say this incident proves
                that the government has a long way to go before
                understanding the Internet. 

                "The highest law-enforcement office in the land has
                just been shown to have major vulnerability in
                defending itself from outside attack. That the
                attack appears to be not from a concerted terrorist
                group but whimsical pranksters is even more
                embarrassing." 

                "It is the same action that news crews
                demonstrated by recently smuggling explosives
                onto planes in the wake of the downing of TWA
                800," said Glenn Hauman, president of
                BiblioBytes, which sells books online. 

                The hacking incident also confirms the need for
                better encryption to protect information, Hauman
                said. "It illustrates the need for stronger
                cryptography. The government can't even protect
                its own computers from outside action." 

               
                Copyright © 1996 CNET Inc. All rights reserved.