The Digital Research Initiative
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Help!! . . . We've Been Hacked!!

 

"Hackers", the movie


The two images shown here are the pre- and post-hacked versions of the promotional page for a movie titled "Hackers". Think it's ironic that this site got hit?? Many people on the Web didn't, in fact some accused the movie studio of "hacking themselves" as a publicity stunt. Others thought the page was intentionally left insecure in the hopes that someone would hack them. The studio replaced the original site, but maintained a link to the hacked site, as well as to a letter and photograph (with faces obscured) of the group that the studio says claimed credit for the hacked version.
  • View the original movie site
  • View the hacked site by clicking on the word, "Hacked version" on the left.

Hackers Original

text

Government Agencies


Governments and big corporations are always favorite
targets for hackers. The failed attempt to regulate online
speech through the Communications Decency Act
of 1996 (CDA) inspired a rash of hackings in protest.

    The Department of Justice page was defaced in the early hours of Saturday, August 17, 1996. A protest against government censorship of the Internet, the hacked page includes a variety of highly-offensive images, including pornographic material, swastikas and racist slogans and images. The Department of Justice was alerted to the hacked page after only a few hours and it shut down its' page for over a day before replacing it with the original, official version of the DOJ page once again. The hacked site mirrored here has been done so for historical and academic purposes; it also can be found here as well.
    The CIA page was hacked almost exactly a month later, on Wednesday, September 18, 1996. As with the DOJ page, pornographic and racist links, text and images were used to replace the usual CIA version. Links were also included to a number of "hacker" sites, most of which are located in Scandanavia. The hacked page was soon removed by the CIA which now has its official homepage back online. As with the DOJ page, the hacked site has been mirrored for historical and academic purposes; as of October 23, 1996 it also can be found by clicking here . Please note that the opening pages for the official CIA site have also been mirrored for historical purposes; this mirror, however, does not contain any working links.

Nation of Islam


    The Nation of Islam page got hit by hackers a few days after the Million Man March in October, 1995. The page was marred by racial slurs and attacks, but was quickly taken down. Both the hacked page and the original, official version are not available on the Web at this time, although you can read about the hacked page and visit the restored Nation of Islam site . A portion of the hacked page has been archived, however, for those interested in getting a glimpse of how the page appeared.

More Hacked Pages

Hacker Information


A brief look at hackers, hacking, and
what people on the Web have to say about them,
as well as what they say about themselves.

    As mentioned before, many groups or individuals that engage in hacking do so to protest injustices or to support causes that have limited access to traditional media channels. While hacking extends to much more than just Web pages, all of the hacked pages mentioned above have links to hacker organizations or groups, although many act as little more than online graffiti or billboards.

    A few useful/interesting sites maintained by or explaining hackers:

    Formula for cracking a password

    Hacker organization homepage

    Contest to "Crack a Mac", encouraging people to hack O/S 8 for the Macintosh.

Some people engaged in hacking are careful to differentiate themselves from someone who maliciously destroys or alters a page. In their eyes, hackers are skilled users of multiple programming languages who hack in an attempt to increase their knowledge and for the challenge it presents. For more on what defines a hacker and what does not, click on the highlighted text.

The single biggest reason hackers use to support their actions is also a very compelling one--freedom on the Internet. By hacking, many people believe they are able to exercise their First Amendment rights to free speech to their fullest extent. One place to learn more about this issue is the Electronic Freedom Frontier's "Hacker" Archive. While this archive is far from a complete resource, it has a number of thought-provoking pieces, many of which condone hacking.

Hacker Awareness

The computer industry press is beginning to cover hacking and its effects seriously. Below are links to three of the more recent articles that have appeared, both in magazines with online and print versions.

"Is Your Web Site as Secure as You Think?"
Article from November, 1996 issue of Net Guide magazine.

"Hacking the Web--A Security Guide"
Article from Winter, 1996 issue of Web Developer magazine.



This site made by
eric
This site was created especially for students of the UNC School of Journalism's
JOMC 050 Class, and anyone else who may be interested.
For more information, please contactdaikat@email.unc.edu