Preview of Meinel's
latest book, Überhacker! continued...
War in Cyberspace
Most Überhackers agree that we don't want war in cyberspace.
However, it isn't up to us to just say no to hacker wars. Regardless
of how pacifist we may be, a tidal wave of crime has struck cyberspace.
Computer criminals plunder banks through sophisticated credit
card theft schemes, while their "code kiddie" disciples
boot teenagers off ICQ and reformat the hard drives of little
kids who are just trying to enjoy the Web.
I first encountered war in cyberspace in
August 1996, when a group of computer criminals tried to run
my Happy Hacker group off the Internet. Eventually criminals
from this same alliance of gangs that have been after me broadened
this conflict into the first hacker war against the US Federal
Government.
Their "War against the Feds" phase opened May 2
nd, 1999. Near midnight the Global Hell gang broke into the White
House web site. They insulted President Clinton, "Tiffany
G," and "Caroline Meinel - CRACK WH0RE!!!!" Yes,
the attackers meant me, they just didn't know how to spell too
well. (See Figure 1.)
Just six days later, May 8th, the FBI arrested Eric Burns,
hacker handle Zyklon, for a hack against the US Information Agency
(USIA) computers. News stories suggested he might also have been
responsible for the White House attack. September 7 th, 1999,
Burns pleaded guilty. According to an Aug. 30 Nando Times report,
"Prosecutors said the attacks affected U.S. embassy and
consulate Web sites, which depended on the USIA for information.
One attack resulted in the closing down of the USIA Web site
for eight days, they said."
The crimes for which Burns was convicted were just a fraction
of Global Hell's rampage. According to Brian Martin's Attrition.org
web site, during the period of Nov. 12, 1998 through Aug. 7,
1999, his associates in Global Hell took credit for defacing
a total of 115 Web sites. Their rampage mobilized a massive Federal
crackdown, including a series of FBI raids carried out around
the Memorial Day 1999 weekend:
The FBI crackdown is part of an 11-city operation that began
Wednesday and so far has involved more than 18 searches in several
states...The hackers have engaged in "fraud-related activities
such as stealing credit-card numbers, misusing identification
numbers and passwords," according FBI special agent Don
K. Clark... FBI agents across the country zeroed in on suspects
-- some of whom are alleged to be members of a loose-knit gang
known as "Global Hell"...The government's campaign
against Global Hell touched off a rash of brazen protests among
hackers, who yesterday defaced a Department of Interior Web site
and tampered with a site owned by a federal supercomputer laboratory
in Idaho...The attacks began on Wednesday, when hackers hit the
FBI's Web site. The following night, hackers broke into the Senate
Web site, altering the page with digital graffiti taunting FBI
agents: "Who laughs last?"--"Crackdown On Hackers
Continues; FBI Conducts Raids," By John Simons, DOW JONES
NEWS, May 31, 1999
More Introduction to Überhacker
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