Crackers Take Down FBI Web Servers

Xanadu Inc wrote in to send us a story over at ZD Net about Crackers taking down the FBIs Web Site. The article refers to them as Hackers (Bad ZD! No Cookie!) and says that it was the result of search warrants being filed against Global Hell (gH) that apparently got some PCs confiscated.

Comments

FBI Visits

[Anonymous Coward]

The FBI agents that visited me last year about this time were actually pretty nice. Unfortunatly some boob from my university snagged my IP and smurfed the University of North Carolina.. (for 5 days straight.. and my U didn't bother to keep any logs or anything.)

The best was when they knocked on the door (my room a mess...)

F: Hello, we're from the FBI (badges shown).. Could we come in and ask you a few questions?

M: Sure, but I wasn't expecting guests...

F: Got any computer in your dorm room?

M: Ya.. one behind the couch, two on the desk, one in the closet and a laptop on the bed.

.... anyway the dude with a clue told me what happened (6 months earlier) and they left and never came back.. :)

So now I have my very own file in the FBI archives.. (Does that raise my purety test score?)

Crackers...

[Chutzpah]

I know some crackers, I personally dont agree at all with cracking, it is just a pain in the ass for the server admins, but what I have noticed about most crackers nowadays is that they generally use overly easy ways to crack the sites that they get in. Crackers used to have to have some skill, but now anyone who knows the win98 filesharing problem has a good chance of being able to crack many sites.

I guess its just what was said above about cracking being the instant gratification method, and hacking being the long, slow method.

Cracker/Hacker contrast

[Izaak]

I personally find the comparing and contrasting of the cracker and hacker communities to be an interesting passtime. They both thrive in the same environment (the Internet) and are often motivated by the same things (status among peers, the desire to solve challenging puzzles), but there are also some fundimental differences.

I've been a hacker (not cracker) for quite a few years. I've written a lot of networked applications, been sysadmin on many types of systems and networks, decoded protocol stacks and the like... in short, I could probably be a killer cracker if I really wanted to. But I have no desire for that. Cracker accomplishments seem too fleeting for me. A crack might make the news for a day or two, but eventually it fades away. If I instead develop an open source tool that becomes popular, I will have a much more noticable (and positive) impact that will last for a long time. I get the satisfaction of actually having built something instead of having torn something down.

But I can understand the lure of cracking. It appeals to that puzzle solving side of me. If only the two communities were not so often confused in the media... (sigh)

Thad

Re:Cracker/Hacker contrast

[Desert Raven]

Well, the allure of cracking vs. hacking can be summed up in two words...

Instant gratification.

To be a respected hacker is a lot of work. To be a famous hacker requires incredible talent. Inspiration, elegance and sophistication are all requirements to be a respected hacker. By definition, a hacker writes his own code, since the code IS the hack.

To be a "respected" cracker, requires little time. Most crackers do not have to write their own code. Elegance and sophistication may keep you from being caught, but are not requirements. Instead, to gain recognition as a cracker, you are judged by the prominence of those systems you break.

Me, I'm in it for the long term even if I never do become famous.

A group of hacker self called slashdot...

[Le douanier]

"A group of hackers that call himself slashdot are being seeked by the FBI because they took down an average of three sites a day.

This group is one of the most numerous, counting no less than many dozen of thousands of hackers who are always working on taking sites down.

The FBI said they cost more than 100Millions of $ in downtime to the society owning the websites they hacked..."

That would be funny if someone would do a satyric article in this style. Anyone has got other ideas to rewrite this or continue this???

BTW: not being myself a hacker (just a wannabe or a newbie) I found it a shame that the mainstream press use this word in this way, I really like this word and don't like to see it used by crackers.

Flooding a web server != 'Hack Attack'

[DiningPhilosopher]

Seems like crackers have to go to less and less trouble to make the news.

Hell, we slashdotters take down websites all the time...

Pushing it back underground

[D3]

I hate the fact that the media and FBI are making this so huge. I have to do intrusion testing from time to time. I'd hate to think that the FBI would be successful at getting crackers to not show off so much. Right now I have an easy time of getting lots of useful information on vulnerabilities. Lots of websites, etc. But if the heat is on, the vulnerabilities don't go away, only the people talking about them.

Read Anti-online's coverage...

[Anonymous Coward]

I suggest everyone go read anti-online's coverage of this.

If some of those items, specifically the article
about the FBI directives sent to ISPs, are true,
it is a VERY disturbing situation...

here are some excerpts....

AntiOnline Receives Directives
Thursday, May 27, 1999 at 11:59:27
by John Vranesevich - Founder of AntiOnline

AntiOnline has recieved directives given to
several ISPs listing the groups of hackers and
hackgroups that they're currently targeting.
Sources faxed AntiOnline the 6 page directive
which begins:

-snip-

The request then goes on for 6 pages listing
hacker, groups, and media currently under
investigation by the FBI. The list contains
not only the hacker's handles, but in most
cases, their real names. For the privacy of
those involved, AntiOnline is only publishing
their aliases. Here is a partial list of the
individuals on that list:

-snip-

Notice an important section from the above
paragraph: "...and media currently under
investigation by the FBI."

Now I REALLY have to wonder...what MEDIA is under
investigation by the FBI...and more importantly,
in what way are media services related to crackers
and their activity?

I am wondering if the FBI is attempting to "get
some dirt" on those media outlets that they
detest...(this may be completely off base but it
deserves some attention...).

Another interesting(and disturbing) part is listed
later on:

The directive goes on to request information to:
Directories, files, logs, records, information or
any data concearning IRC Channels visited by
Hackers or individuals listed in paragraph 1,
specifically:

It goes on to list the following IRC Channels:

#creep
#j00nix
#tk
#pascal
#ex0dus
#faggotsex
#gayfagsex
#gaysex
#hackunix
#hax0r
#lezbiandsex
#linux
#sex_gay
#sex_pl
#shellx.log

-snip-

It concerns me that some of those channels have
*NOTHING* to do crackers at all...
#PASCAL?!?!

Again, maybe this is not important...
but I am certain many people have visited #linux
for non-cracking reasons(I know I have on
EFNET).

Just some thoughts...

dCf

--"They go around loooking younger for a few days,
then they need more...."

Waste of time...

[chuckw]

Seems like anyone can run a few scripts and get famous. I got busted for cracking 4 years ago, 'cept I wasn't using someone elses tools. It isn't as glamorous as one would think. I'm having much more fun maintaining and building the world I live in rather than trying to take it down...