Order restored on court
Web site 
By Reuters
October 26, 1996, 10 a.m. PT 

                A Florida court Web site was restored Friday
                after two days absence following a break-in by a
                hacker who placed pornographic images in the
                site. 

                Court officials on Wednesday took the state court
                system home page offline after a computer hacker
                apparently broke into the site and added pictures
                of nude men and women in various stages of
                sexual activity. 

                The photos caused a stir among those who use the
                court page to access Florida Supreme Court and
                Appellate Court decisions. The home page is
                normally a little more staid, with plain
                wood-grained background and hypertext links. 

                Prurient but disappointed surfers looking for thrills
                gave the court system home page one of its busiest
                days ever Friday, having heard about the incident
                or read about it in a local newspaper. 

                "We've had a significant number of hits today on
                our home page," said Craig Waters, executive
                assistant to Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice
                Gerald Kogan. "With all the publicity surrounding
                this, a lot of people are curious." 

                No files were tampered with and court records
                remained intact, Waters said. The Florida
                Department of Law Enforcement was contacted
                and was investigating the break-in. 

                Court officials intend to prosecute the perpetrator,
                Waters said.

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