The Fall of Hacker Groups

[Snail]

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|=--------------------=[ The Fall of Hacker Groups ]=--------------------=|

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|=--------------=[ Strauss <strauss@REMOVEME.phrack.org> ]=--------------=|

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--[ Contents

1 - Introduction

2 - Background

3 - Nowadays

4 - Conclusion

5 - Shouts

6 - Bibliography

7 - Notes

--[ 1 - Introduction

The earlier, bigger part of hacking history often had congregations as

protagonists. From CCC in the early 80s to TESO in the 2000s, through LoD,

MoD, cDc, L0pht, and the many other sung and unsung teams of hacker heroes,

our culture was created, shaped, and immortalized by their articles, tools,

and actions.

This article discusses why recently we do not see many hacker groups

anymore, and why the ones we do, such as Anonymous and its satellite

efforts, do not succeed in having the same cultural impact as their

forefathers.

--[ 2 - Background

Hacking is, in its very essence, an underground movement. Those who take

part on it have always been the ones who (ab)used technology in ways beyond

the knowledge of the larger userbase. It is tightly linked to intense

efforts in unveiling previously unknown information as well as in sharing

these discoveries. These premises hold true for as long as we know hackers:

since computers had barely no users up until the informatic massification

of today.

The nature of the hacker interests intrinsically poses difficulties:

growing knowledge on anything is hard. It requires heavy research,

experimentation, and can turn into an endless journey if objectives are not

carefully set. Just like in any field of scientific studies, it calls for a

good amount of colaboration, an attitude which, luckily for hackers, was

greatly enabled by the advent of computer networks and, most notably, the

Internet.

Computer networks increasingly made it possible to transmit unlimited and

uncensored information across their geographical extent with little effort,

with little costs, and in virtually no time. From the communication

development standpoint, one would expect that the events that followed the

80s to our days would lead to a geometric progression in the number of

hacker communities. In effect, hacking has arguably grown. Hacker

communities, definitely not. So what went wrong?

--[ 3 - Nowadays

We live in days of limited creativity. Moreover, as contraditory as it may

seem, it looks particularly rare for creativity to arise from groups or

teams. Communities, rather than individuals, should be more intellectually

empowered to create, but lately we have been watching the force of the

solo, the age of the ego. That, of course, when we do see anything that

catches our attention for originality, which is an ever scarcer pleasure.

In "Time Wars" [1], Mark Fisher explains that post-fordism has taken us to

this catatonic inability to innovate. Our nearly obsessive compulsion for

work consumes not only our time, in the literal form of labor hours, but

our minds, by distracting us from everything else we could be doing

otherwise. These distractions include our unceasing connection to ubiquous

media (e.g. the frequent checks for new e-mail, or accesses to social

networks on mobile devices) as well as an increased concern with financial

stability and provisioning, a concern that grows as welfare is invariably

trimmed by both the governments and the private sector.

It is important to note that our capitalist worries are more deeply rooted

in us than might seem at first, even in the most politically diverse

people. Supporting oneself is not easy, it does not come for free. Getting

some education, finding a job, staying up-to-date... regardless of what

your aspirations are, whatever you feel obliged to do is probably a lot,

already. And it likely involves a prevalence of "minding your own

business".

The unsettlement created in our thoughts affects intellectual solidarity in

even more severe ways than it does individual creation. Simply put, if it

is already so difficult for one person to focus away from these

"distractions" and into inspired productivity, let alone for a group to

join in a true collective mind. The ties that bind collective-minded

parties together take dedication to build, and our egotistical concerns do

not help (see note "A"). Not only is commitment required for the actual

work to be accomplished, but also to identify the shared values and goals

that enable true human connectivity.

Notice this does not concern _collaboration_ as much as it does

_collectiveness_. Collaboration typically breaks down the creative process

in a way it can be incrementally achieved with very self-sufficient,

individualistic contributions. Such is the case in most open-source

software projects. Roles are very well segregated so that a minimum of

human integration is required, as far as most modern software development

processes go, anyway. A true "hive mind" [2] cannot exist without the

support from a stronger, more unisonant cognitive bond. Funny enough, the

popular variants of LOIC, the DDoS tool used by "Anonymous", contain a

"hive mind" feature (i.e. getting a target automatically from a given IRC

server and channel and firing your packets against it). You wish it was

that easy.

The concept of the "conscience collective" was first established by Emile

Durkheim who, in his 1893 book "The Division of Labor in Society",

expressed 'that the more primitive societies are, the more resemblances

(particularly as reflected in primitive religion) there are among the

individuals who compose them; inversely, the more civilized a people, the

more easily distinguishable its individual members', as put by R. Alun

Jones [3].

Well, following (or despite) the prosperous adoption of atheism and

agnosticism as professed in the Internet and other popular media, it is

understood that religious beliefs are in a low, taking a bit of what

socities traditionally saw as a point of unity. In fact, there seems to be

an ever growing search for uniqueness in the modern man, especially that

from the apparently overpopulated metropolises (see note "B"). In this

never-ending crowd of interesting, outstanding personas, we want to shine

somehow, to prove ourselves different and original. In the end, it turns

into a pointless battle, against God-knows-who, for apparent singularity.

Instead of reaching for the fellow man, we want to set ourselves apart, and

thus, remarkable.

--[ 4 - Conclusion

Modern life nearly conspires against the collective. We are tormented by a

relentless flow of information as well as the daily worries of an eternally

insecure, unwarranted life. Furthermore, we dread the thought of being

alike, of sharing multiple views and opinions. As such, we are turning

progressively judgemental of who we should be partnering with, on the basis

that "they do not understand". In hacking, it yet implicates on the

delicate subject of trust, which would require an essay on itself, given

the undeniable importance the matter has acquired over the years.

If our thoughts on creating hacker groups were to be summarized, this is

how they would look: No one ever feels like we do. They are not to be

trusted and we do not have the time for them. The only attitude consonant

to our search for a comfortable, safe life is to constrain ourselves to our

own limitations, ignore the intelligent life out there, and surrender to

the mediocracy that our society has condemned our leisure time to.

--[ 5 - Shouts

My only acknowledgements go to whoever reads this through and puts his/her

thoughts to it. I eagerly await for your comments.

--[ 6 - Bibliography

1 - "Time Wars", Mark Fisher - (pagina’s niet in het hoofdmenu) | Gonzo (circus) | Muziek.Kunst.Meer.

incubate-special-exclusive-essay-time-wars-by-mark-fisher/

2 - "Collective Consciousness", Wikipedia -

Collective consciousness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

3 - Excerpt of "Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works",

Robert Alun Jones - The Division of Labor in Society (1893)

--[ 7 - Notes

A) In respect to social networks, while they are a valid community-building

mechanism in nature, selfishness prevails in common usage, by means of the

indulgent pleasure that fuels chronic "pluggedness", at times voyeur, at

times exhibitionist and needy.

It is arguably the case, though, that the globalizing aspect of the

Internet has brought the feeling of upsetting commonality to the citizens

of even the more unpopulated places.

Un articol interesant.

[Nytro]

Putini tineri stiu de Phrack...

[Snail]

.:: Phrack Magazine ::.

Toti tineri trebuie sa stie acest articol!

[Gushterul]

Tipul care a scris articolul ori e pe langa si l-a scris din auzite, ori e outdated si nu isi gaseste "grupul" ca pe vremuri:)

Grupurile sunt si acum, eu cred ca sunt mai multe ca inainte si mult mai organizate, comunica mult mai usor etc. Insa din cauza monitorizarii si legilor, nu mai sunt asa de publice...

Atacurile din zilele de azi sunt extrem de sofisticate, accesul la hardware custom/weird este mult mai facil, daca le comparam cu cele de pe vremea Phrack & co... Nu mai are sens oricum sa stea lumea sa citeasca toate culorile de carti, manifeste si alte ezineuri pentru ca 90% sunt outdated:)

+ ca acum sunt atat de multe distrouri, versiuni, platforme, limbaje de programare, etc incat este greu sa uimesti pe toata lumea...

+ ca atacurile de azi ori sunt ridicol de masive ori esti ignorat. Daca nu pleci cu baza de date de la Paypal cu 300 de milioane de carduri, deja nu te mai baga nimeni in seama:)

[Matthew]

Eu cred ca are dreptate articolul. Uitati si un post de pe vechiul alt.2600 de acum cateva zile: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.2600/Cm62ChqmlQ8 (cred ca e relevant discutiei)

Shit has evolved so rapidly in the last 20 years that I became an alt.2600 groupee. I've gone from seeing this group as a fringe on USENET, to simplicity one can access via a dying Google groups through the portal of the Chrome app on my aging Nexus 4. Blows my mind.

I evolved from a wannabe to a Voip hacker, to a database developer and ERP designer, to a fintech quantitative hacker banging away algos in R, Python, and Haskell. It's been a real journey. And some how here I am lurking in alt.2600 fucked up off my ass on a fine Saturday afternoon...

Edited July 20, 2015 by Matthew

[Nytro]

Nu mai are sens oricum sa stea lumea sa citeasca toate culorile de carti, manifeste si alte ezineuri pentru ca 90% sunt outdated:)

Ai folosit protocoale vechi de 40 de ani ca sa spui asta.

Ex. .:: Phrack Magazine ::.

[Gushterul]

@Matthew Usenetul a devenit enervant cand a crescut viteza pentru enduseri si au inceput sa toarne iso-uri in prostie, virusi peste virusi, trolling si idiotenii si grupurile au devenit public show, gen 4chan. Nu mai stiu ce e pe Usenet, insa putin probabil ca nu este tot aceeasi sursa de pr0n si virusi