This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.

5 Of The Most Notorious Hacker Groups Of The World Right Now

Would Legion join the legends of hacking?
Jorge Lopez / Reuters

India has been under cyber attacks throughout the year. The series of recent hacks on Twitter accounts includes big names such as Rahul Gandhi, Indian National Congress, Vijay Mallya and Barkha Dutt. Before that, there were 3.2 million debit cards hacked through the ATM networks.

Worldwide, there have been many attacks happening throughout the year. The most recent attack from Dyn IoT network took down big websites such as Twitter, Facebook and Netfilx. Earlier, the group OurMine hacked various social media accounts of Silicon Valley bigwigs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai. Hacking groups leaving their signs is a popular thing in the hacking culture. Most hackers post logos or messages in the hope to stand out. Here are some of the most famous hacker groups of recent times.

LulzSec

Funny name right? These guys were a funny bunch as well which came to the surface in 2011 by hacking the Sony Pictures database. While its first attack was on the Fox website where it took down the website and changed the LinkedIN credentials of several employees.

LulzSec

A lot of people viewed them as pranksters rather than the hackers as it left funny messages on the hacked websites. There were six operating members of the Lulzsec and all of them were believed to be a part of a group called Internet Feds, an anti-Anonymous hacking group. In June 2011, one of the members was arrested who helped the police in catching other members. Even after declaring "50 Days of Lulz" letter of retirement the group teamed up with other groups in July 2011 to hack Rupert Murdoch's News corporation.

OurMine

This group shot to fame with the account hacks of Mark Zuckerberg and Sundar Pichai. The group got hold of the LinkedIn dump leaked in 2012 and used that to hack many social media accounts. The three-man team considers themselves as the security group. While hacking the Pichai's account the group left a message, "Hey, it's OurMine, we are just testing your security, please visit OurMine to upgrade it".

At one point of time OurMine even listed professional security auditing service on its website. $1000 for the basic security audit and $5000 for the company-wide audit. Now they are offering to secure personal emails at $10 as well.

Computer Chaos Club (CCC)

This majorly German hacking club is one of the most oldest and respected hacker groups in the community. It was started 35 years ago in 1981 in Hamburg. The group believes in ethical hacking and follows a code of conduct. The first shot to the fame for this club was hacking German a bank and transferring the money to its account. However, the members returned the money the next day in front of the press.

CCC has been an active participant of pointing out security flaws in several systems including R2D2 Trojan used by the German police for surveillance and the protest against the French nuclear test.

Syrian Electronic Army

Believed to be of the Iranian origin SEA is famous for hacking the news and political organizations of the west. The group came to surface days after the Syrian crisis. Its activities mainly consisted of website defacement, cyber espionage and spamming. The group has had a few notable targets such as Al Jazeera, Associated Press, The Washington Post, BBC News, and many more.

It posted the fake news of Barack Obama being injured from AP's Twitter account which caused a temporary dip in the Dow Jones. SEA has even targeted political Facebook pages including Obama's page. In 2014, the group released a Linux-based operating system called SEAnux.

Anonymous

From the message board of 4chan to being the most dislocated yet organized hacking group, Anonymous has come a long way. Originated in 2003, their claim to fame was the Occupy movement which was not just behind the computer screens but was on the streets too. The group has claimed itself as a liberal group trying to protect the freedom of the Internet.

The people in the trademark Guy Fawkes mask have often targeted child pornography websites and the church of Scientology with the motto "We are Anonymous, we are legion, we don't forgive, we don't forget. Expect us". Recently the group has shifted their target towards the terrorist organization ISIS by taking down its affiliated Twitter accounts and other Internet activities.

The group has often carried out the operations against the racist groups such as Ku Klux Klan. These operations include #OpKKK, #OPSaudi and opposing Australia's Anti-Islam rally. Anonymous has often supported people in raising voices against the governments of the world. Such incidents include Operation Tunisia in support of the Arab spring, Thailand Jail hack, and South African corruption expose.

Some of the other notable groups are Ajax from Iran which is an Anti-Stuxnet group, Dragonfly which targets electric grids and it is state sponsored and Tailored Associated Operations (TAO) from USA.

e Of The Most

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.