December 29, 1997. AOL's NetNoir area was vandalized again... The attackers altered text in eight different locations...

"NetNoir - The Black Network" "Attacked again - Thanks to Spin, Crit, and Hex"
"I'm looking for a strong black woman" "Spin, Crit and Hex in 1997..."
"Egypt Bans Female Circumcision" "Our hosts sure aren't too bright."

The screenshot at the bottom of this page shows the full extent of the attack. The vandals had hit three weeks earlier -- leaving an essay critizing the site -- and the altered content December 29 suggests a similar critique.

One hapless "Club NetNoir" user found his picture displayed next to the attacker's manifesto. His personal ad seeking someone to "compliment my black male strength" was replaced with text stating "AOL's Rainman password protection wasn't too much of a challenge to bypass." Under the headline "Hacked again!" the four-paragraph essay continued...

Hi. I'm looking for for a positive black woman to compliment my black male strength. I'm fun, intelligent and career driven. I'm also a romantic at heart who loves to please his woman. If you are interested, email me.....
NetNoir has once again been owned, thanks to Spin and Crit. Also thanks to Hex, sorry he couldn't be here. Now I must point out that all the staffers at NetNoir are indeed black. Is that discrimination? I believe so. In his response to last month's "hack", E. David Ellington compared NetNoir to an AOL forum dedicated to the French culture. May I point out that France is a country, not an Ethnic group or a race. That was a poor analogy Dave, go back to school.

Oh, and another thing.. AOL's Rainman password protection (which is on all of the NetNoir accounts now thanks to Hex and I) wasn't too much of a challenge to bypass.

Be sure to click on the other button on the main page, to read the essay that was on the page the first time this area was taken.

Also, be sure to visit http://www.inside-aol.com - The Number 1 Anti-AOL site on the web

Spin



[ Click on the images below to see how they looked before the attack. ]







The original NetNoir attack was covered by several news organizations. More information is available at the links below.
Other Recent Hacks
The Hub (3/31/97)
GameWiz (4/4/97)
GameWiz (Again!)(4/25/97)
FTP sites of several AOL employees (4/26/97 through 4/28/97)
The New York Times (4/29/97)
AOL Glossary (5/9/97 through 5/23/97)
Stats Store (5/17/97 through 5/19/97)
Thrive (6/12/97 through 6/13/97)
Kids Kicks (6/19/97 through....)
Fantasy Realm 6/23/97 through....)
Academic Assistance Center 6/29/97)
Spin magazine(8/10/97)
Digital Cities San Diego(8/16/97)
Business Week(9/18/97)
MoneyWhiz(9/27/97)
Geraldo Rivera(10/3/97 through 10/4/97)
Jewish Community
(10/11)
ABC KidZine
(10/11)
Steve Case's Update
(10/11)
OnQ / GLCF
(10/11)
Lifestyles channel
(10/11)
Reebok
(10/11)
AOL Live
(10/11)
PC Hardware forum
(10/26)
Extreme Fans
(10/28)
Roto-Zone
(10/28)
NetNoir
(12/9)
NetNoir (again!)
(12/29)


In addition, hackers hit AOL's Court TV area in November of 1996.