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RE: DOJ?

Vandals on justice dept. Web site

BY JOHN O'NEIL

New York Times

WASHINGTON -- A computer hacker vandalized the home page of the 
Department of Justice Friday night, posting obscenities and 
anti-government graffiti, a department official said Saturday.

The Justice Department's site on the World Wide Web was shut down 
early Saturday after members of the public called to report the 
electronic break-in, said a department spokesman, Joe Krovisky. The 
site will remain shut while the department's technical experts assess 
its security, he said.

Krovisky said that the system the hacker broke into was separate from 
the department's internal computer system, which contains highly 
sensitive information about criminal cases and investigations. 
``There's no way that the internal department information could have 
been affected'' by a hacker who gained access to the information 
presented on the web site, he said. ``That would have been 
impossible.''

The hacker replaced information on the home page with obscenities, 
graffiti and anti-government statements, he said, but declined to give 
details.

The Associated Press reported that the site was changed to read 
``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 called the attorney general, and a topless Jennifer Aniston, 
one of the stars of NBC's ``Friends,'' the Associated Press said. 
Other sexually explicit images were shown.

Hackers used the majority of the web site to criticize the 
Communication Decency Act, signed in February, which makes 
transmitting sexually explicit material in ways children might see it 
a felony, punishable by up to two years in prison and a $250,000 
fine.

Two special panels of federal judges, one in Philadelphia and another 
in New York, have declared the act unconstitutional because it 
violates First Amendment rights of free expression.

NYT-08-17-96 1736EDT
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From:  John Lehmann (SSASyd)[SMTP:LEHMANNJ@saatchi.com.au]
Subject:  RE: DOJ?

Some of us on the list have no lives and don't get to watch the 
news... please post a summary :)

I enjoy lurking on this group, and had expected to see several
messages this morning regarding the national news last night, but
alas: What happened to the DOJ over the weekend?