Hacker organizations

Cyber Militias of the World

Iranian Cyber Army

Web Site: http://iraniancyberarmy.tumblr.com

Estimated Membership: 5000

Description: Ultra Nationalist hackers who support the current Iranian regime. They have conducted
dozens of high profile and very destructive cyber raids in the last few years.

Relationship Designation: Enemy

Notes: A Google search will reveal the details of the most recent high profile attacks by this group.
The PLF became aware of this group shortly after we joined with Anonymous in Operation Iran. I
sent them a personal appeal to leave off and join us instead, their reply was received a half hour
later in the form of massive attacks upon the web assets of the PLF and Anon Ops. It is beleived that
the IRC receives considerable assistance from the Revolutionary Gaurd Cyber Defense Command.

The Iranian Cyber Army is a potent and effective enemy and should be treated with a high level of
respect and caution. The IRC is known to make use of huge botnets to launch devestating DDoS
attacks.

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Indian Cyber Army

Web Site: http://www.CyberArmy.in


Description: A moderate leaning hacker group from India. While not overtly nationalistic in nature
they do have a running hot cyber war going with the Pakistan Cyber Army over poloitical disputes
between these two nations. While this group is small, they are very competent hackers with
hundreds of successfully documented hacks to their credit.

Relationship Designation: Potential Ally

Notes: The IRC has performed hundreds of successful and high profile hacks. While they will fight
against any slight by the PCA, they are not exclusively nationalistic in nature. They have joined with
Anonymous on certain Ops, and are therefore not considered a possible adversary at this time. The
Indian Cyber Army is a small but potent and effective force to be reckoned with.

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Pakistan Cyber Army

Web Site: http://www.pakcyberarmy.net


Description: A distinctly politically motivated group whose focus is Pakistani nationalism and
freedom for the Kasmirians and the Palestinians. They are arch-enemies of the Indian Cyber Army
and spend most of their time in open conflict with this group. They should also be considred
distinctly anti-Israel.

Relationship Designation: Neutral

Notes: This group could pehaps be persuaded to help in some of the mideast conflicts. They are
extremely savvy and effective hackers with many hundreds of successfully documented hacks to
their credit. However the running feud between them and the Indian Cyber Army make any possible
relationship virtually impossible at this time.

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Honker Union of China

Web Site: http://www.ChinaHonker.com

Estimated Membership: 25,000

Description: Formed in 1999 in response to the United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in
Belgrade, Yugoslavia. HUC is a group known for hacktivism, mainly present in Mainland China.
Literally the name means "Red Guest", as compared to the usual Chinese transliteration of hacker
(黑客, hēikè, literally Black Guest as in black hat). The The Honker Union of China is a nationalistic
group bent on defending the Government of China from all enmeis both perceived and actual. They
are also the largest known Cyber Militia in the world.

Although there is no evidence of Chinese government oversights of the group, with the official
government stance against cyber crime of any kind, the Honker Union and other freelance Chinese
hackers have a complex relationship with the Chinese government. Greg Walton noted in his studies
that Chinese government has been able to use the Honker Union as a "proxy force" when Beijing's
political goals converge with the group's nationalist sentiment. He also noted instances of members
profited off the Chinese government for their skills and the Chinese government recruited members
into security and military forces. Finally, Greg Walton pointed out that there are some calls within
the group to be officially recognized and integrated into the Chinese government.

Relationship Designation: Potential Adversary

Notes: The HUC is the driving force of nationalistic hacking in China today. An amalgamation of
several earlier groups, they continue to grow and add members and absorb rival groups at an
astonishing rate. I personally rate this group as the single most powerful cyber warfare force on the
planet. This cyber militia is listed as a potential adversary because of the PLF's Dark Operations
Snow Lion and Red Dragon, both of which will pit us directly against the Chinese Government and
the PLA.

Members have launched a series of attacks on websites in the United States, mostly government-
related sites. They also routinely target pro-Tibetan Freedom groups and individual activists. The
name also suggests that a hacker in red, the color of the Communist party, is in combat with hackers
in the dark. The HUC recently joined together with the Red Hacker Alliance to become the single
largest hacker force on the planet.

Peoples Liberation Front

Web Site: http://www.PeoplesLiberationFront.tk


Description: Formed in 1985. A highly organized militant group of hackers who use the original
American Militia form of organization. While members are free to come and go and sign up for any
Op they want, once signed on to an action there is a tight command and control structure based
around commissioned officers known as Commanders. Politically motivated, this dedicated group
primarily fights for freedom of information, speech - and expression. This group is transnational and
global, with members in over 50 countries. Founded in 1985 this one of the oldest Cyber Militias in
the world.

Relationship Designation: N/A

Notes: This small but incredibly potent group contains some of the best hackers in the western
world, and is most famous for small and surgical, yet incredibly effective actions around the world
on behalf of freedom and justice. The group is diversified into various units dedicated to
intelligence, penetration - DDoS attacks and more. This group has a particular expertise in counter
intelligence, cyber warfare - and mass media dissemination. The PLF played an important role in the
2011 world wide uprisings which have been termed the Transnational Global Cyber Insurgency; that
saw major operations in Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Ivory Coast - and Yemen just to name a
few. This group comes at it's enemies from every direction at once, and is known for eviscerating
entire government networks over night.

Albanian Cyber Army

Web Site: http://www.facebook.com/Albanian.CyberWar


Description: What can you say, rabidly nationalistic, pro-Kosovo - and extremely anti-Serbian.


Notes: This group is small and sort of shadowy. There is a known roster of leaders, and many
member followers. Their political motivations are crystal clear, they love Kosovo Independence and
hate Serbia, Greece and Macedonia with a passion. They have been responsible for a handful of
high profile hacks, and I think they bear watching as a possible future force. I see no possible attack
vector between our groups.

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Estonian Cyber Defense League

Web Site: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14968102,00.html


Description: In 2007, when Estonia's government, financial and media computer networks were
attacked by unknown Russian hackers following the government's decision of relocating a Soviet
war memorial, it must have been hard to believe that something good would come from it at the
end.

With that attack, Estonia became the first country ever to actually be engaged in a cyberwar, but
that didn't make them despair. If anything, that incident was what spurred them to institute their
own Cyber Defense League - an organization that gathers computer scientists, programmers,
software engineers and cybersecurity specialists and would, in time of war, be under the direct
command of the military.


Notes: Estonia, often referred to as "E-stonia," is one of the most connected nations of the planet -
it's a place where three quarters of the population use the Internet and nearly all of the 1.3 million
people pay their taxes online.

The tiny Baltic country was not only the first in the world to enable its citizens to vote online – and
as of earlier this year, it now it has its own wired troops too. The new Cyber Defense League was
created in response to massive cyberattacks that Estonia sustained four years ago this month. In
April 2007, dozens of Estonian financial, media and government websites were rendered unusable
for nearly two weeks.

This particular Cyber Militia is unique in that it is now commanded by approximately 100 full time
cyber soldiers in the Estonian military. Therefore there is no question of government invovement

with this group. My sense is this group will be primarily concerned with defensive measures and in
any case it's most natural enemies will probably come from Russia. However this group could
conceivably become a true and potent adversary if there is ever an "Op Estonia".

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Anonymous

Web Site: http://www.AnonServ.org


Description: Anonymous is the second largest hacker group of this kind in the world, and they have
been responsible for some of the most historical cyber actions and battles ever. Anonymous is a
trans-national and global organization with members in over 100 countries around the world.

Relationship Designation: Allied Group

Notes: While I have listed Anonymous as a Cyber Militia, it is a concensus building co-op. The
leaders as much as they exist are primarily the people who run the network platforms upon which
Anonymous acts. That said, Anonymous does have many Cyber Militia's with a more martial
organization who do fight under their banner, and their operations are vast and well organized
attacks. By offering dozens of different groups and tens of thousands of individuals the
unprecidented opportunity to wage cyberwar in a co-ordinated fashion, they meet the criteria of
being a Cyber Militia.

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Soldier X

Web Site: http://www.SoldierX.com


Description: Founded in 1997. This was Project 25SX or SOLDIERX version 2.5 as it has become
known as. This project was to take SOLDIERX back to its roots - information insemination. This idea
removed much of the secrecy behind SX and the difficulty to get involved. Anybody who wanted to
help with the site was able to. If a piece of work met criteria, it was posted onto the site by one of
the admins. This was kind of like an early version of wikipedia for hackers if you think about it. It
was all part of a dream RaT had of a site filled with programs and information which people
frequented without incurring a charge. Those people learned from the site, and in turn gave back to
it. The site would never be the same. If you look at the current site, all people are welcome to
contribute to it. It is increasingly apparent that the wheels of Project 25SX are still in motion.


Notes: This group began as a group of game hackers, and evolved over time into the full fledged
Cyber Militia it is today. SOLDIER X was founded by Clinton H. Weir (Kefka/Ordune/Shto) in 1997 as
a RPG group known as "SOLDIER". RaT was appointed as the leader of the group. Other notable
members included Blake and RPGMaster. "SOLDIER" quickly became the largest group as RaT
started to get into programming. He got into programming with the help of "MaGuS", the the
infamous creator of the "Fate X" program series. SOLDIER wanted to make the whole AOL RPG'ing
scene completely automated. He decided that they would do this with a test game application he
created dubbed "RaT Fighter 1.0 Beta". The program was a huge success and "RaT Fighter 1.0" was
eventually created. After his creation was finished, he was pleased that the games in the RPG scene
now had the option to be automated - so he worked with his fellow programmers to decide what
should be done next.

Syrian Electronic Army

Web Site: http://www.syrian-es.com


Description: Like their nemisis the Free Hackers Union of Syria, this group was founded in 2011 as a
respnse to the Syrian Revolution. They are fanatically nationalistic, and their primary focus is in
attacking the Syrian Revolution. They are pro-regime to the extreme.

The Syrian Electronic Army also encourages its followers to spread the governmental love via
Facebook. As Noman told IEEE Spectrum: "The group calls its members to collectively write pro-
Syrian regime comments on popular Facebook pages such as that of Oprah Winfrey 'as a way to
reach out to, and influence the American public opinion.'"


Notes: Helmi Noman, a researcher with the OpenNet Initiative, has been monitoring the Syrian
Electronic Army. He toldIEEE Spectrum that he first noticed the group on Facebook a few weeks ago
(its profile image is pictured), and he has been watching since then as the group stages attacks and
opens new channels of communication. The group recently started a website, a Twitter feed, and a

YouTube channel.

Noman says the Syrian Electronic Army claims to be a volunteer, civilian effort. "The group says on
its Web site that it is not an 'official entity' but rather a group of young people who love Syria and
want to serve the country by 'attacking back those who have attacked Syria,'" says Noman.

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This dossier represents nine of the most powerful Cyber Militias in the world and some 50,000 of
the worlds best hackers and cyber warriors. These groups are unique in their martial organization,
and because of this tight command and control are powerful far beyond their numbers.
There are many other "hactivist" groups in the world, such as the Chaos Computer Club, Crewel
Underground Madness - or the Cult of the Dead Cow that are very active and effective. And these
groups represent about the same amount of talented hackers as are documented in this dossier.
They are not included in this list because they lack a martial character. Of all the groups catalogued
in this dossier, the one with the most promise is Anonymous - which has the potential of uniting not
only the Cyber Militias but all the other hacker groups as well; thus forging the largest Cyber Army
in history.

This dossier was compiled by Commander X and the Intelligence Unit of the Peoples Liberation
Front. It was last updated on Monday – June 27, 2011.

Hacker Groups of the World

Chaos Computer Club

Web Site: http://www.CCC.de


Description: Founded in 1981. Chaos Computer Club is the oldest and largest hacker group in the
world. The CCC describes itself as "a galactic community of life forms, independent of age, sex, race
or societal orientation, which strives across borders for freedom of information...." In general, the
CCC advocates more transparency in government, freedom of information, and human right to
communication. Supporting the principles of the hacker ethic, the club also fights for free access to
computers and technological infrastructure for everybody.


Notes: The CCC hosts the annual Chaos Communication Congress, Europe's biggest hacker congress,
with up to 4,500 participants. Every four years, the Chaos Communication Camp is the outdoor
alternative for hackers worldwide. The CCC started a new yearly conference called SIGINT in May
2009 in Cologne, Germany. Members of the CCC also participate in various technological and
political conferences around the planet.

The CCC publishes the quarterly magazine Datenschleuder (data catapult), and the CCC in Berlin also
produces a monthly radio show called Chaosradio which picks up various technical and political
topics in a two-hour talk radio show. The program is aired on a local radio station named Fritz.
There is also a podcast spin-off named Chaosradio Express, an international podcast called
Chaosradio International (which has been inactive for a couple of years now), and other radio
programs offered by some regional Chaos Groups.

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Crewl Underground Madness

Web Site: http://www.blackhat.be


Description: Founded in 1996. With four fulltime founding leaders and hundreds of supporting
members, Crewl Underground Madness (cum) is a belgian blackhat group specialized in network in
security, hacking, coding and phreaking.


Notes: This group has been quiet lately, although they have gotten some press for some impressive
work they did helping people in Africa. Generally this is a small and dedicated group of very highly
skilled hackers and their supporters. We have reached out to this group several times over the years
but have received no response. I still feel however that they would make excellent allies.

Cult Of The Dead Cow

Web Site: http://www.cultdeadcow.com


Description: Founded in 1984. Based in Lubbock, Texas, CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) is one of the
most accomplished and oldest hacker groups in the computer underground. Widely considered (by
themselves) to be the most elite people to ever walk the face of the earth, this think tank has been
referred to as both "a bunch of sickos" (Geraldo Rivera) and "the sexiest group of computer hackers
there ever was" (Jane Pratt, _Sassy_ and _Jane_ magazines). The cDc is a leading developer of
Internet privacy and security tools, which are all free to the public. In addition, the cDc created the
first electronic publication, which is still going strong.


Notes: The cDc Grand Imperial Dynasty includes a former Presidential Advisor on computer security,

a Harvard researcher, a former U.N. official, an assistant district attorney, a professor of logic, an
award-winning filmmaker, several published authors, a video game developer, an Eagle Scout,
programmers of every sort, graphic artists, musicians, currency traders, and a Merovingian. And
these are just the members who have chosen to make their association with the cDc known to the
public.

For over twenty years, the cDc has proven itself as an innovative force in the computer
underground. In 1984, the cDc invented the electronic publication. In 1990, the cDc's HoHoCon
defined the modern computer underground convention. In every U.S. Presidential Election since
1992, the cDc has run a candidate. In 1994, the cDc became the first computer undergound group
to have its own Usenet newsgroup. In 1996, the cDc coined the term "hacktivism." Also in 1996, the
Ninja Strike Force (cDc's elite cadre of cheerleader-assassins) was founded. In 1997, years before
everyone and their dog had jumped on the file sharing bandwagon, it was distributing original mp3-
format music on its website. In 1998 and 1999, the cDc's "Back Orifice" series was launched to open
the eyes of consumers regarding the security of their computer operating systems. To this day, Back
Orifice and BO2k are among the most popular remote system administration tools among both
hackers and IT professionals. Since 1999, Hacktivismo (a special projects group within the cDc) has
been at the forefront of the ongoing struggle for human rights in and out of cyberspace. In 2002, the
cDc and Hacktivismo drafted their own human rights-friendly software license and earned further
distinction as the only underground computer groups to ever receive U.S. Department of Commerce
approval to export strong encryption in software. In 2004, the cDc and the NSF launched the Bovine
Dawn Dojo Forum, the greatest on-line community of all time.

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Naija Cyber Hactivists

Web Site: http://twitter.com/#!/NaijaCyberHack


Description: Hacker group from Nigeria, they appear to be a group dedicated to democratic reforms,
freedom, justice – and transparency in Nigeria.


Notes: Found out about these folks here - http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5705454-
146/story.csp On May 30, 2011 the PLF, Anonymous – and the Naija Cyber Hactivists conducted an
amazing joint operation, unprecidented in the history of hacker groups. In a lightening 20 hour
attack we were able to convince the reclitriant President of Nigeria to sign a desperatley needed FOI
bill into law. Word is that the government was terrified. Naija Cyber Hactivists are now designated
an allied group, and more joint operations are planned for the future.

Free Hackers Union of Syria

Web Site: http://syrian-hackers.blogspot.com


Description: Founded in 2011 during the historical Mid East Spring Revolution in Syria this group
was litterally forged in the fire of some of the worst repression ever seen in one of these
revolutions.


Notes: This group has a VERY strong alliance with Anonymous and helped to form the Syrian
contigent of Anonymous. Their primary, in fact sole activity at this writing - is battling the tyrannical
regime of Bashar Assad in the Syrian Revolution.

This dossier represents five of the most powerful Hacker Groups in the world and some 13,000 of
the worlds best hackers.


Cyber Commands of the World

USA Cyber Command

Web Site: http://www.stratcom.mil/factsheets/Cyber_Command

Estimated Personel: 5000

Description: Founded in 2010. United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is an armed forces
sub-unified command subordinate to United States Strategic Command. The command is located in
Fort Meade, Maryland and led by General Keith B. Alexander. USCYBERCOM centralizes command
of cyberspace operations, organizes existing cyber resources and synchronizes defense of U.S.
military networks.

USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the
operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to,
and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions

in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our
adversaries.


Notes: The text "9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a", which is located in the command's emblem
- is the MD5 hash of their mission statement. The command is charged with pulling together existing
cyberspace resources, creating synergy and synchronizing war-fighting effects to defend the
information security environment. USCYBERCOM is tasked with centralizing command of
cyberspace operations, strengthening DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrating and bolstering
DoD’s cyber expertise.

Some military leaders claim that the existing cultures of the Army, Navy and Air Force are
fundamentally incompatible with that of cyber warfare, and have suggested a fourth branch of the
military, a cyber-warfare branch. LTC Gregory Conti and COL John "Buck" Surdu (chief of staff of the
United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command) stated that the three major
services are "properly positioned to fight kinetic wars, and they value skills such as marksmanship,
physical strength, the ability to leap out of airplanes and lead combat units under enemy fire.
"Unfortunately," the two officers write, "these skills are irrelevant in cyber warfare. Technical
expertise isn't highly valued in the three services. Just look at military uniforms: no decorations or
badges honoring technical expertise", the officers point out. These officers suggest that "Ultimately,
the role of fighting and winning in cyberspace is a military mission, which demands a military
organization – one that can recruit, train and retain highly qualified cyber-warfare combatants."

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Revolution Guard Cyber Defense Command

Web Site: http://www.gerdab.ir/fa/content/3


Description: Founded in 2010. This is the Cyber Defense Command of the Revolution Gaurd Corp of
Iran. One of the first acts of this Command was to declare war on Anonymous. A potent force not
averse to the use of offensive tactics that other Commands would flinch from employing.


Notes: After the protests in 2009, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps established a cyber
defense command to counter online political activism, making Facebook and Twitter inaccessible to
those without filter proxies bought in the West.

PLA Blue Army

Web Site: http://asian-defence.blogspot.com/2010/08/chinas-cyber-command.html


Description: Founded in 2010. The development of China's cyber warfare program has captured
worldwide attention in recent years. While evolving doctrines and incidents of cyber intrusions with
alleged links to the Chinese government have helped China watchers glean the development of
China's growing cyber warfare capabilities, far less certainty surrounds the command and control
side of this enigmatic operation. It’s a highly-trained, elite cyber wing of the People’s Liberation
Army. It’s got just about 30 online soldiers. And its stated purpose is two-fold. The first – to defend
the country from cyber attacks. The second – to fire off its own online barrages in case of war.

Relationship Designation: Potential Enemy

Notes: Professor Meng Xiangqing from the PLA's National Defense University Institute for Strategic
Studies stated: “It is really hard to distinguish attacks and defenses in Internet war. In traditional
wars, there was a definite boundary between attacks and defenses. However, in the war of internet,
it was hard to define whether your action was an attack or a defense. If you claim to fight against
hacker attack, it is hard to say that you are just defending yourself." Meng added, "To fight against a
hacker attack, you might attack other Internet nodes, which leads to the Internet paralysis in other
countries and regions. Moreover, the Internet is a virtual world. It is hard to say that acquiring
information from other countries is a defense”

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Russia 5th-Dimension Cyber Army

Web Site: http://defensetech.org/2008/05/27/russias-cyber-forces

Estimated Personel: 7,500

Description: Founded in 2007. This was Project 25SX or SOLDIERX version 2.5 as it has become
known as. This project was to take SOLDIERX back to its roots - information insemination. This idea
removed much of the secrecy behind SX and the difficulty to get involved. Anybody who wanted to
help with the site was able to. If a piece of work met criteria, it was posted onto the site by one of
the admins. This was kind of like an early version of wikipedia for hackers if you think about it. It
was all part of a dream RaT had of a site filled with programs and information which people
frequented without incurring a charge. Those people learned from the site, and in turn gave back to
it. The site would never be the same. If you look at the current site, all people are welcome to
contribute to it. It is increasingly apparent that the wheels of Project 25SX are still in motion.


Notes:

Cyber Warfare Budget: $127 Million USD Offensive Cyber Capabilities: 4.1 (1 = Low, 3 = Moderate
and 5 = Significant)

Cyber Weapons Arsenal in Order of Threat:

Large, advanced BotNet for DDoS and espionage

Electromagnetic pulse weapons (non-nuclear)

Compromised counterfeit computer software

Advanced dynamic exploitation capabilities

Wireless data communications jammers

Cyber Logic Bombs Computer viruses and worms

Cyber data collection exploits Computer and networks reconnaissance tools

Embedded Trojan time bombs (suspected)

Cyber Weapons Capabilities Rating: Advanced

Cyber force Size: 7,300 +

Reserves and Militia: None

Broadband Connections: 23.8 Million +

Close ties with Russian Business Network (RBN), who is thought to own and operate the second
largest BotNet in the world. Intelligence suggests there are organized groups of hackers tied to the
Federal Security Bureau (FSB).

The FSB is the internal counter intelligence agency of the Russian Federation and successor to the

Soviet KGB. Russia is often overlooked as a significant player in the global software industry. Russia
produces 200,000 scientific and technology graduates each year. This is as many as India, which has
five times the population. This is hard to believe since their software industry can be traced back to
the 1950s.

A study by the World Bank stated that more than one million people are involved in software
research and development. Russia has the potential to become one of the largest IT markets in
Europe. The Russian hacker attack on Estonia in 2007 rang the alarm bell. Nations around the world
can no longer ignore the advanced threat that Russia’s cyber warfare capabilities have today and
the ones they aspire to have in the near future.

From this information, one can only conclude that Russia has advanced capabilities and the intent
and technological capabilities necessary to carry out a cyber attack anywhere in the world at any
time.

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This dossier represents four of the most powerful Cyber Commands in the world and some 18,500
of the worlds best hackers.


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