Hacker groups are communities of computer hackers that first began to surface in the 1980’s. Hacker groups often have very different motives to one another. Some are hired by people to hack into specific websites for information. Other groups act for political reasons, and attack people they believe to be immoral. Some of the most famous hacker groups have worked to take down important government websites and may have thousands of members.
Bureau 121
Bureau 121 is a one of the world’s largest hacker groups. It’s based in North Korea, and the North Korean government has invested heavily into it. The group has around 6,000 members, much more than the average hacker groups. It’s one of six bureaus of North Korea’s General Bureau of Reconnaissance, which handles clandestine operations. It seems to be an intelligence agency like MI6 in England, or the CIA in America. They aim to gather intelligence, especially on Japan, the United States, and South Korea. The Bureau employs North Korea’s most talented computer experts and is run by the Korean military. A defector from the Bureau revealed that there are 1,800 specialist, who operate all over the world.
Lizard Squad
Lizard squad are a group of seven hackers, famous for committing several DDoS attacks on several companies including Facebook, and Malaysia Airlines. Facebook denied the hacking and Malaysia airlines simply said that there domain had been temporarily redirected elsewhere. On April 30, 2016 UK police had to issue a warning to businesses ordering them not to comply with ransom messages from groups threatening to DDoS companies. Many of these groups were using Lizardsquad’s name to give weight to their threats, but failed to follow through with the threat every single time. Lizard Squad has DDoSed League of Legends, Destiny, and even North Korea. They took down internet in North Korea for a whole day. Making them one of the only hacker groups to take down the internet of an entire country.
Global Hell
Global Hell is one of the largest known hacker groups with around 60 members. The group was disbanded in 1999 when 42 of the members were prosecuted, 12 for computer intrusion, and 30 for lesser offences. The group was founded by Patrick Gregory, a former street-gang member. The group hack at least 115 websites, and caused millions of dollars in damages. They hacked the systems of the United States Army, the White House, United States Cellular, Ameritech, and the US Postal Service. Some of the members convicted had to pay thousands in restitution, and spent years in jail, some also need permission from future employers to even use the internet.
Deep Panda
Deep Panda is most likely a government funded group, and has been responsible for several successful attacks, gaining them media attention from all over the world. The group is allegedly responsible for exposing the personal information of tens of millions of people, which puts them at all at risk of identity theft. Like most hacker groups Deep Panda is very mysterious, and not much is known about them, we don’t even really know their name. Deep Panda is simply the name they were given until we know there real name. The group has hacked into many Fortune 500 companies to steal and sell intellectual property.
Poodlecorp
Poodlecorp have recently become one of the most famous hacker groups in the world for hacking some of the most popular websites, and youtube accounts in the world. This group may only have seven members but they have managed to hack into youtube channels such as, LinusTechTips, WatchMojo and LeafyIsHere. They also DDoSed Pornuhb, LeagueOfLegends, Playstation. More information can be found about them on their website poodlecorp.org, where they have a full list of members, and a “Used&Abused” list. The groups leader said on twitter that they do it to get people angry. In one tweet he said “We do it because we can, nobody can stop us and we just like to cause chaos.”
Syrian Electronic Army
Copyright SEA ARMY / (CC BY-SA 4.0)
This hacker group couldn’t be more different to poodlecorp, they have a political motive which is to help resist against opposition groups in Syria. They most likely support the Assad regime. It uses a variety of methods to attack opposition groups, but also western news organisations, and human rights organisations. Their methods include malware, spamming, website defacement, phishing, and denial-of-service attacks. The SEA is the first of it’s kind, there’s never been an online army that worked for a government, and attacked their enemies until the SEA surfaced in 2011. They have used defacement attacks against sever news outlets including the BBC, Al Jazeera, and the financial times.
Milw0rm
Milw0rm is one of many political hacker groups that identify as hacktivists. They famously hacked the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. This is the primary nuclear research facility in India, making this a very significant hack. The group also committed the largest mass hack there had ever been, and posted anti nuclear messages on websites. The group seems to have good intentions, there slogan is “putting power back in the hands of the people.” The identities of the groups members are unknown, but it’s believed by some to have been founded by a group of teenagers originally.
Network Crack Program Hacker Group
This group was formed in 1994, and based out of Zigong, in the Sichuan Province of China. Unlike most hacker groups we know a surprising amount of information about the group, and there are even pictures of some of the members. The group hacked 40% of the hacker association websites in China. They gained massive media attention in 2006 from news outlets worldwide. One of the members known as Wicked Rose released that the group is being funded by someone but didn’t reveal who it is. The group has four core members, KuNgBim, Charles, Rodag, and Wicked Rose. Wicked Rose is the fake name used by Tan Dailin. He’s a Chinese hacker who participated in the patriotic attacks of 2001.
Hidden Lynx
Hidden Lynx is the name given to a large group of hackers described as “hackers for hire”. Researchers managed to uncover some interesting information about the group. After examining forensic evidence they believe the group has about 50 members, and could be based in china. Hidden Lynx has been linked to a series of attacks on multiple high profile attacks on U.S. Companies. It’s likely the group is paid to collect intellectual property, and corporate intelligence for who ever is willing to pay. Hidden Lynx are believed to be incredibly skilled and one of the best hacker groups money can buy.
Anonymous
Copyright Vincent Diamante / (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Anonymous is easily the most famous hacker group in the world, and one of the firs hacker groups to ever be known by people all over the world. Anonymous is a controversial group, which operates on ideas rather than directives. They have no leader, and no rules, or written objectives. Anyone can join, and it’s members may have completely opposing viewpoints. The group originated on the website 4Chan, and focused on “lulz”. They’re well known for the large scale pranks they’ve pulled. Anonymous members have increasingly become involved in activism, putting on large marches while wearing masks, and hacking into websites as a protest.