Hacker Groups
414
The 414s is a group of hackers who broke into dozens of high-profile computer systems in the early 1980s. They took their name after the area code of their hometown of Milwaukee. The 414s were investigated and identified by the FBI in 1983. Six teenagers were in the limelight and were described by mass media as meeting the profile of computer hackers at the time: “Young, male, intelligent, highly motivated and energetic”. Many saw the 414s as harmless pranksters, but actually they caused a real concern, as many computer experts realized that others could duplicate their techniques and do real damage. They used inexpensive personal computers and simple hacking techniques, such as using common or default passwords and exploiting well-known, but unpatched, security holes. The 414s claimed they didn’t intend to cause any damage; their only motivation was the challenge of getting into places they weren’t supposed to, and remaining there undetected. Gerald Wondra from a Milwaukee suburb, 22 at the time, was the first visited by the FBI. He had done the damage to the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center computers. Wondra said he was "curious, he was just having fun". The members of the 414s were not prosecuted and didn’t pay any fines. As a result of their activities, the public learned much about the dangers of computer hacking. On September 26, 1983 six bills concerning computer crime were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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CULT OF THE DEAD COW ((___)) [ x x ] \ / (' ') (U) Cult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc, is a computer hacker and media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas. The group was formed at the Farm Pac slaughterhouse by Grandmaster Ratte', Franken Gibe, and Sid Vicious. Its name is perhaps a reference to the debugging method of initializing unused memory with the hex value DE AD BE EF.
The group maintains a weblog on its site, also titled "CULT OF THE DEAD COW." New media are released first through the blog, which also features thoughts and opinions of the group's members. Over the years cDc members have granted interviews to major newspapers, print magazines, online news sites, and international television news programs.
In December 1990, cDc member Drunkfux gave birth to the modern hacker con. HoHoCon, usually held in Houston, Texas, was the first hacker conference which invited the participation of both journalists and law enforcement. October 1994 saw the creation of the cDc's Usenet newsgroup. It was thus the first hacking group to have its own Usenet newsgroup. In 1999, the cDc created Hacktivismo, an independent group under the cDc communications umbrella dedicated to the creation of anti-censorship technology in furtherance of human rights on the Internet. Also in February 2000, cDc member Mudge briefed President Bill Clinton on internet security.
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1. What is the name of the hacker group you have just read about?
2. When was the hacker group founded?
3. Where is it located?
4. Who are the founders/members of the hacker group?
5. How are the hacker group members characterized?
6. What was their activity?
7. What was the result of their activity?
8. What is the motivation of their deeds?
9. What is their current activity?
10. What is your attitude to the hacker group members and their activity?
Hacker group name |
Years of foundation |
Location (country, city) |
Founders /Members |
Famous /Notorious Deeds |
Present activity |
Your attitude to the hacker group |
414
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cDc
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In the news…
When people read a newspaper they rarely want to read all the articles. Usually they check the headlines and choose the articles they find interesting. Look at the following newspaper headlines:
1) Which headline seems interesting to you? Choose one headline only.
2) Look at the following list of word combinations. They all come from the articles to go with the headlines. Which word combinations do you think go with which headline? Why?
Web browser demand for IT security experts
to penalize violators software vendors
illegal computer attacks tougher punishment
domestic internet police household name
university spokesman vulnerability researcher
light fines undergraduate computing degrees
3) What interesting information do you expect to find in the article? Write two questions:
Examples
What UK’s university is going to provide a graduate with computer hacking knowledge?
What did H.D. Moore do?
Why did internet police call for firmer crackdown on cyber hackers?
4) Now read the article for the headline you choose.
1. UK’s first computer hacking degree
The University of Abertay in Dundee (Scotland) has been launched a degree course in computer hacking in response to industry demand for IT security experts. The BS (Hons) undergraduate course in Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures will provide a graduate with the knowledge of how illegal computer attacks can be performed and how they can be stopped. Around 30 places are available on the course.
According to a university spokesman, there are an increasing number of compliance regulations and insurance polices that insist businesses carry out security checks on their networks. The university also stressed it is going to train students very carefully in accordance with Home Office guidelines and that the students are to be monitored closely throughout the course.
The university prospectus said: “In the same way that police detectives need to know how thieves can steal, computer system administrators need to know what hackers can do”. Although many existing undergraduate computing degrees cover elements of this new course, Abertay claims to be the first UK university to offer a dedicated degree course in hacking.