[realhackhistory@home]#

Official Mastodon for hack.history #YouTube channel, covering the #history of #phreaks, #hacking & #hacktivism as well as the portrayal of #hackers in pop culture.

If you are interested in #digitalhumanities, #anthropology, ASCII art, #retrocomputing, tech #histodons toots or just really curious about hackers then there will be content here for you.

Media by humans, for humans.

Public Key

npub1wshafvqw60gu95eaf83wkdh0vfags2kuzfhtp80cp4yvle0scrfq57uyeh

NIP-05 Address

realhackhistory@chaos-social.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs8gt75kq8d85wz6v75nchtxmhky75g9twpym4snhuq6jx0uhcvp5spz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qqr8vw6

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub1wshafvqw60gu95eaf83wkdh0vfags2kuzfhtp80cp4yvle0scrfq57uyeh

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Last Notes

2026-10-26 11:09:00 UTC

Is there any interest in me posting short threads of #FOIA requests as I make them, with references?

2026-10-23 21:26:04 UTC

I had completely given up on filing FOIA with USSS (U.S. Secret Service) but I think I’m going to start researching and submitting small batches of requests focusing on hacking in the eighties.

2026-10-22 17:56:42 UTC

#Blog is live now, I welcome feedback, would love to know if this is of genuine interest to people. Fascinated me to get an insight into #FBI institutional knowledge of #hackers in 1987 and that they were looking to build proper profiles on teen computer delinquents.
#hacking #history
https://realhackhistory.org/2026/10/22/fbi-agents-requested-a-profile-for-hackers-in-1987-this-is-what-they-got/

2026-10-22 16:07:42 UTC

I was just listening to what I thought was a very strange ad for antivirus before I realized the guy was saying “sofas”, not “sophos”.

2026-10-20 16:39:00 UTC

I’ve written a fairly lengthy blog about what FOIA documents reveal about what the FBI knew about teen hackers in 1987 and I’m agonizing about publishing it because I’m not sure anyone will be interested.

2026-10-16 16:45:41 UTC

New #blog! This is the story of two suburban Chicago kids who hacked a university computer & tried to hold it to ransom in 1980. Really early #hacker #history & a thread in the history of #ransomware, data extortion is almost as old as personal computing itself.
https://realhackhistory.org/2026/10/16/the-misadventures-of-system-cruncher-vladimir-history-of-ransomware/

2026-10-14 15:27:43 UTC

Been a while, here's my new top 10 favorite old school Chinese #hacker handles:
1. tombkeeper
2. blackwhite
3. Withered Rose
4. sex is not show
5. Seven Swords
6. Weird Dog
7. Lonely Swordsman
8. flashsky
9. Grey Pigeon
10. goldsu

2026-10-14 15:27:24 UTC

If anyone knows of scanned archives of HackBase (黑客基地) available online please get in touch with me as I would love to preserve them on Internet Archive.

2026-10-13 08:58:37 UTC

Whitehats (allegedly) gone wild. Allegations of direct involvement with shinyhunters.
This is the third or fourth arrest or conviction of a ransomware negotiatior in the last few weeks.
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7378218

2026-10-11 16:29:47 UTC

Update on a #FOIA request I had made and forgotten about. I must remember to submit more requests to the U.S. military.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/117/423/221/060/135/382/original/4be51f98012a3dd2.jpeg

2026-10-10 14:36:54 UTC

Please RT for reach: Do I have anyone following who knows or knows someone who would know how to access old UK court records? I’m looking for a case that was eventually dismissed but was held at Southwark Crown Court in 1991 - 1992.

2026-10-08 10:04:18 UTC

With a heavy heart it seems that Darren Martyn aka pwnsauce from LulzSec has died. I considered him a friend & had the privilege of spending time with him irl, he was sharp, kind, funny & a pleasure to chat with. His family are asking for privacy but I know Darren was very proud of the volunteer

2026-10-06 20:15:22 UTC

1995 - One of the pivotal moments in the #history of #hacktivism, "net.strikes" against French government websites carried out by voluntary human "botnets" comprised of people hitting browser refresh manually at times arranged on usenet & email mailing lists by activists who opposed nuclear testing.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/117/395/789/911/213/044/original/1fc78a26bb0422aa.jpeg

2026-10-01 15:31:00 UTC

Turns out KillSec, that pro-Putin hacktivist group turned RaaS, was run by a sixteen year old, allegedly.
https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/teenager-suspected-of-leading-killsec-ransomware-group-law-enforcement-seizes-servers-and-leak-site

2026-09-07 08:50:33 UTC

Would have been a lot more fun as a period piece set in the 70s or 80s but instead they’ve kind of thrown some bits of the history of phreaking in with carders & account takeover thieves & scammers & produced a Frankenstein story. Also not great to drag blind phreaks into it.
https://youtu.be/nUTeWniGzxw

2026-09-07 08:31:37 UTC

I’m not seeing much media coverage of how badly U.S. healthcare and related industries are getting absolutely pummeled by ransomware lately, am I just missing it? Just looking over recent victims it feels like a massive spike in attacks.

2026-09-01 10:04:48 UTC

Even in the surveillance loving UK people want some meagre amount of privacy.
https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/30/turns-out-brits-would-quite-like-their-private-messages-to-stay-private/5292994

2026-08-22 10:53:14 UTC

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@nprofile…lsx9 I’ll be excited to read it!

2026-08-21 23:44:46 UTC

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If anyone wants to read me rant a bit about how you might assume the history of hacking would be a slam dunk because it should all be digital records but actually it is a confusing mess look here:
https://realhackhistory.org/2024/10/22/muddled-history-of-the-digital-underground-why-realhackhistory-exists/

2026-08-21 23:43:55 UTC

Question for tech Mastodon and history Mastodon or digital humanities people with an interest in cybersecurity, has anyone ever written an early history of webshells? It’s yet another “basic” thing that I can’t find any real written account of.
Please retoot for reach.

2026-08-18 08:48:52 UTC

It doesn’t mention specifics here but if you timed DDoS attacks against specific app infrastructure or apis or similar to take them down at the same time people were likely to be trying to track or complain about missing or late packages you could cause extra chaos.
https://therecord.media/russia-wildberries-cyberattack-ukraine

2026-08-10 07:41:14 UTC

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@nprofile…5y0h oddly enough I wrote this about the world in general, not specifically you or your friends.

2026-08-09 17:39:46 UTC

We’ve gone from “the internet isn’t real life” to “generative AI trained on the internet is the ultimate adjudicator of truth” very quickly.

2026-08-08 16:11:00 UTC

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“Cyberspace Pearl Harbor” (drink!)

2026-08-08 16:05:43 UTC

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Here is a 60 Minutes segment from 2000 on cyberwar, that thing we’ve been promised or threatened with for thirty or so years now. Includes a demonstration of DDoS.
https://youtu.be/rcLrLH_g2dk?t=3194&si=YqqvSA2SHhI3u-xs

2026-08-08 16:00:38 UTC

This 60 Minutes segment from 1995 on #hacking, featuring Emmanuel Goldstein from 2600, Corrupt of Masters of Deception and various stressed out looking suits. Love the closing comment by Corrupt.
https://youtu.be/0bPJfAKCtqw

2026-08-07 21:47:02 UTC

Anyone have an invite for the 2600 London Discord by any chance? DMs are open

2026-07-18 11:37:28 UTC

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I would recommend anyone who gets the chance to watch this movie checks it out. It’s something really special in terms of movies about the people from the history of hacking, something quite beautiful.

2026-07-18 11:36:06 UTC

I finally got a chance to see the Joybubbles documentary. I was honestly surprised by how emotional it made me, if you’ve been involved in phreaking or hacking I think you’ll see a little of yourself in Joe. It centers his story and his struggles and his successes, it isn’t a true crime exposé.

2026-07-16 09:19:57 UTC

Got a physical copy of this 1973 book on its way to me. Time to get to grips with the 70s.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/928/910/445/064/807/original/e0d2664a65af5c9f.jpeg

2026-07-16 06:54:55 UTC

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“The ransom attempt failed, because the bank had in its files duplicates of the stolen tapes.”
Backups have been foiling ransomware operators since the 70s lol

2026-07-16 06:54:38 UTC

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From “Computer Capers: Tales of Electronic Thievery, Embezzlement, and Fraud” by Thomas Whiteside, published in 1978.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/928/337/962/731/799/original/95a0c332cccde58f.png

2026-07-14 16:02:36 UTC

Detroit Free Press - Jun 20th, 1975
I'm fascinated by the idea of #ransomware before ransomware, data extortion that impacted availability or confidentiality of data before the advent of malicious software for encryption.
Stumbled across this 70s news story about "tapenapping" of backup tapes.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/919/167/665/022/262/original/fab5bb7d606a3c51.png

2026-07-13 22:07:24 UTC

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@nprofile…mej2 there’s a new ddosia chat now with 800 or so people in it.

2026-07-13 21:33:53 UTC

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@nprofile…7q7j a real time capsule.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/914/809/711/026/255/original/b42a6e8dcf8ee67c.jpeg

2026-07-13 19:49:15 UTC

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@nprofile…kesx hey my pleasure, I have a ton of requests waiting to be filled including more milw0rm documents so stay tuned.

2026-07-13 19:48:39 UTC

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@nprofile…kesx back when everyone would spill their guts to Vranesevich!

2026-07-13 14:00:51 UTC

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@nprofile…tkfs I remember linenoise.org, hey!

2026-07-13 13:51:48 UTC

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Can tell milw0rm is a blast from the past for a lot of people seeing these posts.
Suddenly it is 1998 again, I'm on IRC and usenet and drinking warm jolt cola while my parents yell at me that they need to make a phone call so I need to get offline.

2026-07-13 13:48:32 UTC

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@nprofile…tkfs same!

2026-07-13 13:35:57 UTC

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Internet Archive upload so that it will be properly OCR'd
https://archive.org/details/milw0rm-final

2026-07-13 13:18:06 UTC

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Also, if you did enough internet crimes back in the day the FBI would archive your website in black and white for you and stick it in a folder in a big filing cabinet somewhere.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/912/859/912/516/477/original/f2cbf9aa9e13e228.png

2026-07-13 13:10:32 UTC

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I'm going to get this FOIA release up on Internet Archive so it is properly searchable.

2026-07-13 13:09:39 UTC

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If you remember milw0rm for reasons other than being around the scene at the time you may remember them for a hack of an Indian nuclear research facility that gets attributed to Pakistani hackers for some reason even though milw0rm did literal interviews about doing it.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/india-has-scary-nuke-hack/

2026-07-13 13:07:09 UTC

In response to a #FOIA request from me the #FBI have released records relating to late 90s #hacker group milw0rm. Additional records not included in this Vault release were located by the FBI and I have requested these be processed for potential release as well.
https://vault.fbi.gov/milw0rm/milw0rm-final/view

2026-07-10 21:40:19 UTC

“Salami Slice Spices Crime Via Computer”
The Pittsburgh Press, 21st February 1981
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/897/843/468/349/146/original/fade7a808c2265d9.png

2026-07-09 08:46:50 UTC

Seeing very limited coverage of this outside of The Express, which I think is a tabloid paper, but it seems like MEK dissidents have pulled off some kind of mass website defacement in #Iran.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2226838/iran-ayatollah-website-hacked-trump-airstrike-ceasefire/

2026-07-09 06:48:53 UTC

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😬
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/888/680/857/369/957/original/aa2a4660bd4df3a1.jpeg

2026-07-09 06:45:26 UTC

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Jack Black gets a break from playing hackers or NSA tech guys at least.

2026-07-09 06:43:06 UTC

Watching The Jackal (1997) for the first time and man, Richard Gere’s Irish accent is borderline offensive to hear.

2026-07-09 05:56:28 UTC

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Archivists and archive projects keep history alive, like this 1980 news clip of the hacking incident I am writing about. This whole story barely registers on hacker timelines now but people can learn about it now.
https://youtu.be/Z8eh4v7z2Rk

2026-07-07 15:33:00 UTC

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Full audio of the Captain Midnight HBO signal hacking radio interview is here
https://archive.org/details/capnmidnight_kxl

2026-07-06 15:55:30 UTC

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AFAIK this was entirely lost media and the only recording of Captain Midnight's voice that I am aware of, the FBI archived the audio of the interview as part of their extensive investigation into Captain Midnight. Very exciting. The whole recording will be going up on Internet Archive shortly.

2026-07-06 15:54:04 UTC

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A third #FOIA release from the #FBI for records on broadcast signal hacker Captain Midnight and this time it is a recording of a radio interview with the man himself on Portland's KXL radio station at midday, I'm unsure of the exact date but it was before he surrendered himself to the feds.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/873/837/942/968/691/original/d61c05c909c706a4.mp4

2026-07-03 20:53:04 UTC

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@nprofile…rpu4 that’d be very cool.

2026-07-03 18:26:01 UTC

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@nprofile…rpu4 the FBI FOIA files that I got so far didn’t include any of it or any reference to it sadly

2026-07-03 18:24:10 UTC

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@nprofile…rpu4 the book on butterflies? No. From what I read he kept some kind of detailed diary that he encrypted during the time he was planning and developing the AIDS program, no idea how or who I’d ask for that though.

2026-07-03 18:22:56 UTC

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@nprofile…4jfy I may reach out to you once I get back to writing. I just wrapped up a few big sections on Popp’s career and the events before the attack made the news.

2026-07-03 18:09:05 UTC

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@nprofile…rpu4 I feel like learning more about his time in Africa helped really solidify him in my mind as a real person I could kind of understand on some level.

2026-07-03 18:08:26 UTC

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Could be a ransomware negotiation message from last week, not 2000
"And if it will not help u in deciding for FAST work without losting my TIME I will... i think u can imigene it yourself without MY HELP. Or I must email / fax /call to your BANK customers and say them about your SHIT security ????"

2026-07-03 18:06:18 UTC

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2026-07-03 18:05:39 UTC

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Finally I am going to write about Alexey Ivanov & his partner in crime Vasiliy Gorshkov who were breaching U.S. companies from Russia in 2000, offering "consulting" to victims & threatening to delete data from hacked computers and leak sensitive records. This feels like proto-ransomware methodology.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/857/367/869/089/434/original/391af42ac65dc7e4.jpeg

2026-07-03 17:49:08 UTC

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In parallel I am writing the most complete account of the life, career & crimes of Dr Joseph Popp Jnr, the man everyone agrees created & executed the first ever software based ransomware attack in 1989. I've found the contradictory and missing details of his life frustrating & am going to fix that.

2026-07-03 17:48:48 UTC

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I'm currently writing a #blog about two American #hacker kids who held a U.S. university to ransom via modem in 1980. This was one of the earliest extortion cases involving data or availability of data I had found until I read about people holding tape archives to ransom in the 1970s. I’ll definitely be writing about that too.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/857/301/657/961/161/original/0e60ff1afaec6de7.jpeg

2026-07-03 17:47:16 UTC

The next big push I have planned over at the #blog (realhackhistory.org) is to document some of the people and events I see as linked to the #history of #ransomware before what we think of as modern ransomware was a thing.
So much of ransomware history online now is written as corporate marketing.

2026-06-28 19:46:16 UTC

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@nprofile…n88t it could be repurposed for that, I wish I had made a note of the article it went with but I think at the time I thought I would remember it despite having looked at hundreds of articles.

2026-06-28 17:51:54 UTC

Framing legislative social media bans for kids as a triumph against tech giants is a mistake I think. I see it as an admission of failure to impose any meaningful regulation on any of the corporations & as essentially admitting defeat & ceding the territory to them after erecting a makeshift fence.

2026-06-28 15:38:39 UTC

I put hours & hours into this #blog, combing through newspaper archives for cool fun images of what newspaper illustrators thought of computer crime in the 1970s. If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of #hacker illustration tropes here it is.
#hacking #history
https://realhackhistory.org/2026/06/28/70s-newspaper-illustrations-of-computer-crime/

2026-06-28 15:30:36 UTC

70s Newspaper Illustrations of Computer Crime
How did artists working for newspapers in the 1970s view computer crime? How did they depict it? This blog goes year by year with a selection of images from newspaper archives.
http://realhackhistory.org/2026/06/28/70s-newspaper-illustrations-of-computer-crime/

2026-06-26 10:53:46 UTC

FBI claims to have caught an Iranian APT hacker who is accused of “targeting more than 150 universities in the United States, causing damage estimated at over $3.4 billion”.
Accused is believed linked to IRGC backed “Silent Librarian” espionage campaign to steal research & intellectual property.
https://www.reuters.com/world/montenegro-police-fbi-arrest-iranian-wanted-by-us-hacking-2026-06-26/

2026-06-26 10:26:53 UTC

I must have missed it but the DDoSia Project Telegram channel seems to have been taken down, a pity because it was a great source of intel on NoName057(16) and Z-Pentest. That chat had outlasted a lot of other Telegram takedowns and had around 14,000 members last time I checked.

2026-06-22 16:50:36 UTC

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The guy who wrote the book that prompted the article is an absolute mainstay of any conversation about hacking or computer crime through the seventies and into the eighties, Donn B Parker. I need to write about him at some point. A real hardass character.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/794/786/388/014/581/original/e45ad9aa474e2426.jpeg

2026-06-22 15:54:29 UTC

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@nprofile…3wu3 most U.S. newspapers didn’t either but I guess it depended on the editors and if they had licensed art or an in house artist to use. Some of it is very creative and beautiful and some of it is very rough.

2026-06-22 15:18:47 UTC

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This incredible illustration accompanied an article in The Columbus Ledge on November 19th, 1978 which discussed whether colleges and universities were helping to create computer criminals by giving students access to computers. Bit of a bizarre moral panic.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/794/413/915/365/289/original/fcd20a4ec68d633a.png
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/794/425/075/645/071/original/d34ecf915f5912af.png

2026-06-22 15:10:43 UTC

I love this illustration for instance, from The News-Times, Saturday January 14th, 1978.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/794/394/699/462/830/original/e4c47a8710595ac6.png

2026-06-22 15:07:27 UTC

About to put together a version of this for the 70s.
https://realhackhistory.org/2023/03/16/hackers-as-portrayed-in-80s-news-print-media/

2026-06-22 13:16:01 UTC

Does anyone know of a source for 60 Minutes broadcasts from the 70s, like an archive or something? Would love to see this segment "Dial E For Embezzlement" which aired back in 1976.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/793/943/258/962/991/original/2a5fa69a390347c7.png

2026-06-22 10:37:48 UTC

Wonder where the UK is at with the War on Encryption, the War on Internet Privacy and the War on Adults Existing Online after Starmer’s exit

2026-06-20 10:00:34 UTC

Somebody finally wrote a book about the Yahoo Boys.
https://www.npr.org/2026/06/17/nx-s1-5860810/nprs-book-of-the-day-carlos-barragan-the-yahoo-boys

2026-06-20 06:40:59 UTC

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@nprofile…x39t that’s a good call, thanks :)

2026-06-19 23:26:24 UTC

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If you want to read how I expand on this summary then check out:
https://realhackhistory.org/2024/10/22/muddled-history-of-the-digital-underground-why-realhackhistory-exists/

2026-06-19 23:25:08 UTC

If I had to explain this whole project in a few sentences it is this. The history of hacking has become some incomplete Wikipedia pages, corporate infosec marketing & the few books that journalists who got scoops on hacking bothered to write. Somebody who cares needed to go back to primary sources.

2026-06-19 21:13:00 UTC

Has anyone seen this? Is it worth checking out? The Romanian hacking scene is something I’ve wanted to learn more about for a while now.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8129610/

2026-06-18 17:15:34 UTC

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I also kinda hate the comparison between Anonymous and Hong Kong Blondes, Anonymous existed and did things of consequence and people went to prison and risked their futures to do those things.

2026-06-18 17:13:44 UTC

This is a really well put together video about the history of #hacktivism and cDc which includes interviews with the likes of @nprofile…9u7t. I have to say I have mixed to bad feelings about the background of the “Hong Kong Blondes” but it is a good story nonetheless.
https://youtu.be/y_RirGTqnlM

2026-06-18 16:20:06 UTC

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@nprofile…z6kv he only had to wait a decade or two!

2026-06-18 15:18:17 UTC

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@nprofile…dws0 yeah he certainly wasn’t wrong

2026-06-18 15:03:45 UTC

Satirical opening to an article in Computer Careers Magazine, from October, 1980.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/771/716/540/852/519/original/8aefb802b810b40d.jpeg

2026-06-17 14:04:34 UTC

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A lot of good headlines came out of the coverage from the time.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/765/819/975/581/130/original/d0ecd712b8f26958.png

2026-06-17 14:02:41 UTC

Started my next blog which I guess you could say is about the grand-uncles of #ransomware, two Chicago high school students who blackmailed a university by shutting down one of its main computers in 1980.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/765/815/244/582/123/original/099d6e70864bf484.png

2026-06-16 18:48:47 UTC

People are really sleeping on the danger that Violence-as-a-Service and state funded attacks organized online through easily manipulated patsies poses.
https://abcnews.com/amp/International/wireStory/man-set-fire-homes-linked-starmer-jail-russian-133913032

2026-06-16 17:29:18 UTC

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I’m especially proud of this blog because it is covering a topic that is barely covered in English anywhere on the web and only very lightly touched on in academic papers I’ve looked over. Even Russian language site coverage is very sparse and what exists is very fragmentary, contradictory & brief.

2026-06-16 16:15:57 UTC

New #blog post, I dig into the #history of a group I hadn't heard of up until a few weeks ago - the Siberian Network Brigade. They were a group of Russian students who got involved in the Second Chechen War via #hacking.
#hacker #history #Russia
https://realhackhistory.org/2026/06/16/siberian-network-brigade-the-second-chechen-war/

2026-06-16 16:12:34 UTC

Siberian Network Brigade & the Second Chechen War
This blog is about the Siberian Network Brigade, a Russian hacktivist group that formed for political and nationalist reasons in response to the Second Chechen War.
http://realhackhistory.org/2026/06/16/siberian-network-brigade-the-second-chechen-war/

2026-06-13 13:27:01 UTC

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Forgot to upload this second set of #FOIA docs on Flyhok to Internet Archive but they are there now.
#hacking #history #hacker
https://archive.org/details/fb-flyhook-foia-2

2026-06-05 16:26:06 UTC

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a group of precocious Russian teenagers who were politicized by the Kosovo War. Not saying it is impossible, but China was cultivating its hacking scene for state purposes earlier than countries like Russia or Iran, I think.

2026-06-05 16:24:42 UTC

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I’m very wary of claims hacker groups in the nineties or early 2000s were state controlled, the same was said about the Chaos Hackers Crew who were a nineties Russian group, there are military think tank papers that say they were run by the FSB when all available evidence points to them being

2026-06-05 16:22:42 UTC

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Reading about the Siberian Network Brigade it seems they were known to the Russian authorities but because they were attacking Chechen websites they were given leeway by the FSB. Half the papers say they were directly backed by the FSB with no real evidence, the other half are more like this.
https://assets.chaos.social/media_attachments/files/116/698/418/152/425/596/original/0ab7bd0c5a234e32.jpeg

2026-06-05 16:20:13 UTC

I have the utmost regard for academics and especially people who study history and social anthropology but reading papers I find circular reference loops where someone will say “x could be true” and then a dozen other papers will say “x is true based on a paper by <someone>” and then it is a fact.

2026-06-05 15:11:31 UTC

Time to start a new blog about the history of cyberwar I think, a short one. Five minutes later I’m writing “in 1999 the so called Dagestan Incursion occurred when Islamist fighters from Chechnya crossed the border between…”