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This is a partial list of notable hacker groups, in alphabetical order:
- Anonymous, originating in 2003, Anonymous was created as a group for people who fought for the right to privacy.
- Anonymous Sudan, founded in 2023, a hacktivist group that claims to act against anti-Muslim activities, but allegedly is Russian backed and neither linked to Sudan nor Anonymous.
- Bangladesh Black Hat Hackers, founded in 2012.
- Chaos Computer Club (CCC), founded in 1981, it is Europe's largest association of hackers with 7,700 registered members.
- Conti one of the most prolific ransomware groups of 2021, according to the FBI. [1]
- Cozy Bear, a Russian hacker group believed to be associated with one or more intelligence agencies of Russia.
- Croatian Revolution Hackers, a now-defunct group of Croatian hackers credited with one of the largest attacks to have occurred in the Balkans.
- Cult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc or cDc Communications, is a computer hacker and DIY media organization founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas.
- Cyber Partisans, a Belarusian hacktivist group that emerged in 2020, that performed attacks on the Belarusian government and governmental agencies.
- DarkSide, a cybercriminal hacking group, believed to be based in Eastern Europe, that targets victims using ransomware and extortion.
- DCLeaks, claims to be a group of "American hacktivists (though indicted individuals were found to be in Russia) who respect and appreciate freedom of speech, human rights and government of the people."
- Decocidio is an anonymous, autonomous collective of hacktivists who are part of Earth First!, a radical environmental protest organization, and adheres to Climate Justice Action.
- Derp, a hacker group that attacked several game sites in late 2013.
- Digital DawgPound (DDP) The DDP was founded and named by StankDawg.
- Equation Group, suspected to be the offensive operations wing of the U.S. National Security Agency.
- Fancy Bear, a Russian cyberespionage group.
- Genocide2600, a group that gained notoriety for combating child pornography. Disbanded in 2009.
- Ghost Squad Hackers, or by the abbreviation "GSH" is a politically motivated hacking team established in 2015.
- Global kOS was a grey hat (leaning black hat) computer hacker group active from 1996 through 2000.
- globalHell was a group of hackers, composed of about 60 individuals. The group disbanded in 1999 when 12 members were prosecuted for computer intrusion and 30 for lesser offenses.
- Goatse Security (GoatSec) is a loose-knit, nine-person grey hat hacker group that specializes in uncovering security flaws.
- Hackweiser is an underground hacking group and hacking magazine founded in 1999.
- Hafnium Possibly with Chinese associations, responsible for the 2021 Microsoft Exchange Server data breach.
- Hive was a notorious ransomware as a service (RaaS) criminal organization that targeted mainly public institutions. [2]
- Honker Union is a group known for hacktivism, mainly present in Mainland China, whose members launched a series of attacks on websites in the United States, mostly government-related sites.
- International Subversives was a group of three hackers including Julian Assange under the name Mendax, [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] supposedly taken from Horace's splendide mendax (nobly lying) [8] [9] [10] [11] and two others, known as "Trax" and "Prime Suspect" who regularly hacked into corporations like Nortel and systems belonging to a "who's who of the U.S. military-industrial complex". [3] [8] [12]
- Iranian Cyber Army unofficially confirmed to be connected to government.
- Islamic State Hacking Division, a Jihadist hacking group associated with the Islamic State.
- IT Army of Ukraine is a volunteer cyberwarfare organisation created amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Killnet is a pro-Russian group that attacked several countries' government institutions and attempted to DDoS the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest website. [13]
- L0pht, was a hacker collective active between 1992 and 2000 and located in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
- Lapsus$, a black-hat hacker group known for using extortion tactics. active since late 2021, allegedly dumping data from Microsoft, Samsung and Nvidia, and with members arrested in March 2022.
- Lazarus Group, with strong links to the North Korean government, involved in the Sony Pictures hack, the Bangladesh Bank robbery and the WannaCry ransomware attack.
- Legion of Doom; LOD was a hacker group active in the early 80s and mid-90s. Had noted rivalry with Masters of Deception (MOD).
- Legion Hacktivist Group, a hacking group that hijacked the Indian Yahoo server and hacked online news portals of India.
- Level Seven was a hacking group during the mid to late 1990s. Eventually dispersing in early 2000 when their nominal leader "vent" was raided by the FBI on February 25, 2000.
- Lizard Squad, known for their claims of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks [14] primarily to disrupt gaming-related services. Currently broken up.
- Lords of Dharmaraja, an India based security hacking group which threatened in 2012 to release the source code of Symantec's product Norton Antivirus.
- LulzSec, a group of hackers originating and disbanding in 2011 that claimed to hack "for the lulz".
- Masters of Deception, MOD's initial membership grew from meetings on Loop-Around Test Lines in the early- to mid-1980s. Had noted rivalry with Legion of Doom (LOD).
- Mazafaka, financially motivated group and crime forum.
- milw0rm is a group of "hacktivists" best known for penetrating the computers of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Mumbai.
- NCPH is a Chinese hacker group based out of Zigong in Sichuan Province.
- Noisebridge, a hackerspace located in San Francisco which goes by the early definition of hacking and not security hacking.
- Noname057(16) a Russian speaking hacker group, attacks aligned with Russia's invasion in Ukraine
- OurMine, a hacker group of unknown origin that has compromised various websites and Twitter accounts as a way of advertising their "professional services".
- P.H.I.R.M., an early hacking group that was founded in the early 1980s.
- Phone Losers of America, an internet prank call community founded in 1994 as a phone phreaking and hacking group.
- Play, a ransomware extortion group, experts believe them to be from Russia.
- Powerful Greek Army, is a Greek group of black-hat computer hackers founded in 2016.
- RedHack is a socialist hacker group based in Turkey, founded in 1997. They usually launch attacks against the Turkish government's websites and leak secret documents of the Turkish government.
- Rhysida group behind the 2023 British Library cyberattack and the Insomniac games dump using ransomware-as-a-service.
- Rocket Kitten or the Rocket Kitten Group is a hacker group thought to be linked to the Iranian government. Formed in 2010 by the hacker personas "Cair3x" and "HUrr!c4nE!".
- Sandworm, also known as Unit 74455, a Russian cyber military unit of the GRU.
- The Shadow Brokers (TSB), originating in summer 2016. They published several leaks containing hacking tools, including several zero-day exploits of the National Security Agency (NSA).
- ShinyHunters is a Hacker Group that is said to be responsible for numerous data breaches in 2020 and 2021.
- TeaMp0isoN is a group of black-hat computer hackers established in mid-2009.
- Telecomix, a hacktivist group mainly known for circumventing internet censorship during multiple political events.
- TeslaTeam is a group of black-hat computer hackers from Serbia established in 2010.
- TESO was a hacker group originating in Austria that was active primarily from 1998 to 2004.
- The Unknowns is a group of white-hat hackers that exploited many high-profiled websites and became very active in 2012 when the group was founded and disbanded.
- Turla one of the most sophisticated groups supporting the Russian government.
- UGNazi, a hacking group led by JoshTheGod, was founded in 2011. They are best known for several attacks on US government sites, [15] leaking WHMC's database, [16] DDoS attacks, and exposing personal information of celebrities and other high-profile figures on exposed.su.
- Vice Society, a Russian-speaking hacker group known for attacks on healthcare and education organizations
- Wizard Spider Russian / Ukrainian hacker group, suspected of being behind the Ireland Health Service Executive cyberattack, sometimes called Trickbot per the malware.
- Yemen Cyber Army, a pro-Yemeni hacker group that has claimed responsibility for the defacement of the London-based pro-Saudi Al-Hayat website in April 2015, as well as the exfiltration of data from the Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May subsequently listed on WikiLeaks.
- YIPL/TAP - Youth International Party Line or Technological Assistance Program, was an early phone phreak organization and publication created in the 1970s by activists Abbie Hoffman.
- Xbox Underground, an international group responsible for hacking game developers, including Microsoft.
- UNC1151, believed to be based in Belarus.
