Whether it be Anonymous, including those who claim to be Anonymous, or LizardSquad, it is hard to deny that this decade has, so far, has been jam-packed with interesting cyber attacks and cyber wars. It really begs the question of who is who, and what is what, in the cyber world. Who is on whose side? If there is a side, where is it? It’s a confusing and, quite frankly, scary topic to discuss.
The most famous large scale cyber attacks that have happened this decade so far seems to have targets internationally and focus on defense and entertainment. For example, there hasn’t been a year this decade where groups as notorious as LizardSquad haven’t attacked gaming companies such as Microsoft and their Xbox Live service, as well as Playstation and their networks. These attacks not only tamper with online performance of their products, but also, expose the personal information of countless users. These bits of information include birthdays and credit card information that can be quite profitable to criminals.
Other than entertainment hacks, my personal favorite type of attacks to read about are revolutionary attacks such as Anonymous’s war on large figures such as notorious terror group ISIS, the Westboro Baptist Church, and Donald Drumpf. These types of attacks intrigue me the most because they weren’t carried out to gain anything materially, such as money or fame, but rather, to fight back against evil. Well, most of the time that is. Occasionally, terror groups like ISIS find themselves skilled hackers and counter-hackers with plans that have proven to be quite dangerous.
One case that I find most intriguing is the attack on CIA Director John Brennan carried out by a teen that claimed to be affiliated with a small (3 person maximum) hacker group named “Crackas With Attitude.” Despite the hilarious name, they were successful in hacking into Brennan’s AOL account by means of social engineering. Posing as Verizon employees, CWA was able to access Brennan’s personal information such as his social security number, security clearances, emails etc. After obtaining the information, CWA would occasionally taunt Brennan by calling him and sending him messages. Not only do I find their hacking methods utterly astounding, I also admire their intents on doing so. After hacking Brennan, CWA made constant comments on current political conflicts such as the recent leaking of the CIA’s torture methods and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Hacktivists, as people similar to CWA are often referred to, revolutionize the word “revolution” as Henry Ford revolutionized transportation.
Though there are the dreaded physical wars that are constantly being fought today, we must not forget the equally as terrifying cyber wars that are occurring more and more each day as more and more people worldwide are learning how to hack. This is one unfortunate side-effect of free knowledge and information that is easier than ever to come by these days.
