South African hacker history

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A brief history of computer hacking in South Africa.

Contents

Note: A distinction needs to be made between a "white hat" hacker who hacks out of intellectual curiosity, and a "black hat" hacker who has ulterior motives. In recent times there has been an attempt to restore the meaning of the term hacker, which is still associated with creating code, and its secondary meaning, which has become the stuff of Hollywood legend. The term "cracker" is a better description for those who break into secured system by exploiting computer vulnerabilities.

1990

Activists are trapped by BOSS agents who use ATM autotellers to monitor transactions. IBM is now the subject of an ongoing court case for its active support of the apartheid regime. [1]

1991

Cape Educational Computer Society (CECS) becomes the first to advocate free software culture in South Africa. Many hackers gain their first experience of online world via Douglas Reeler's modem. Also in 1991, Kagenna Magazine publishes an article on Cyberpunk by Dr Tim Leary, the first time the word is mentioned in print in South Africa.

1994

A right-wing hacker attempts to sabotage election results by hacking into the computers processing election results of South Africas first democratic election. [2]

2004

A group of computer hackers calling themselves "Spykids" strikes 45 Cape Town business websites and defaces their home pages. [3]

1998

Police arrest a teenage boy from Rondebosch who hacked through all the security features of South African telecommunications company Telkom's computer system but apparently did no damage. [4]

The DA party website is defaced by a hacker. [5]

1999

Hackers break into South Africa's official statistics website, replacing economic information with critical comments about the national telephone company, Telkom. [6]

2003

Akadev a Bishops boy aged 17 Crashes ABSA bank Stealing clients credentials and over R500k. He then contacted ABSA and told them what he has done and how to fix this issue. They did not take this lightly and he was sentenced to 3 years services working for Cyber Security Research Lab South Africa.. [7]

2005

"Team Evil", a group of Moroccan hackers, defaces 250 South African websites on the afternoon of 8 January, with anti-American propaganda. [8]

2006

First National Bank, Standard and Absa banks are the targets of several successful online attacks. The financial institutions report that no less than 10 bank accounts have been hacked.By akadev an ex Bishops student. The value of the damages caused by the attack is estimated at 80.000 dollars. [9]

2008

H.O.Z, currently the largest South African hacker community goes online, and quickly gains a reputation for bypassing local cell network internet restrictions[ citation needed ]. Although authorities have been unable to pin point the master minds[ peacock prose ] behind the incidents, S.A. anti-cyber terrorism, vows to stay tunes to its community members and hopes one day to put a stop to these elite[ peacock prose ] members of its hacking community, they will be paying close attention to its site owner EVILWez. [10] [ irrelevant citation ]

South African Minister for Finance and Economic Development, announces 32 arrests in connection with more than 80 separate fraud counts related to spyware and the loss of (13m pounds) R130m. [11]

2009

Hackers expose corrupt business practice in the banking system - a confidential document detailing information about South African banks is published by Wikileaks. [12]

2010

The second Live Hacking 2010 South Africa ethical hacking workshop was held in Pretoria. [13]

Courses in ethical hacking are offered. [14]

Gauteng's department of local government's website is hacked by CeCen Hack Team who appear to be a radical Islamic group [15]

HackingStats.com an online resource "monitoring and documenting hacked South African-based websites" goes online.

2011

Police unit, The Hawks announce they are on the verge of making further arrests in connection with the a "multi-million rand cyber raid" on the Land Bank over the Christmas season. [16]

2012

Three government websites were hacked in December by a lone activist apparently angered at South Africa's support for the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic in Western Sahara. [17]

2013

"South Africa needs to be saved and freed from corruption", says Team GhostShell, but luckily it has assembled a "strong force" of hacktivists equal to the task. That force will now break into government information vaults and bring to light the evidence that will reveal corruption and nefarious doings." [18]

Through a series of tweets 'data dump' using the account @DomainerAnon, explained that they hacked into the website “for the 34 miners killed during clashes with police in Marikana on August 16, 2012”. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hacktivism</span> Computer-based activities as a means of protest

Hacktivism, is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. A form of Internet activism with roots in hacker culture and hacker ethics, its ends are often related to free speech, human rights, or freedom of information movements.

Telkom SA SOC Limited is a South African wireline and wireless telecommunications provider, operating in more than 38 countries across the African continent. Telkom is majority state-owned (55.3%) with the South African government owning 40.5% of Telkom, while another 14.8% is owned by another state-owned company - the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which is closely linked to the South African government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in South Africa</span> South Africa telephone calling codes

South Africa switched to a closed numbering system effective 16 January 2007. At that time, it became mandatory to dial the full 10-digit telephone number, including the zero in the three-digit area code, for local calls. Area codes within the system are generally organized geographically. All telephone numbers are 9 digits long, except for certain Telkom special services. When dialed from another country, the "0" is omitted and replaced with the appropriate international access code and the country code +27.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damelin</span> Private college in South Africa

Damelin is a private college founded in 1943 by Benjamin Damelin. It has 6 campuses in South Africa and is owned by Educor group. Damelin offers degrees, diplomas and other higher qualifications, but is considered a college instead of a university due to the regulations for tertiary institutions in South Africa. Damelin is the oldest and most profitable education subsidiary owned by Educor. By November 2012, over one million students had graduated from Damelin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absa Group</span> South African banking conglomerate

Absa Group Limited, commonly known simply as Absa and formerly the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa (ABSA) until 2005 and Barclays Africa Group Limited until 2018, is a multinational banking and financial services conglomerate based in Johannesburg, South Africa and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It offers personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and bank assurances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ankit Fadia</span> Indian author and speaker

Ankit Fadia is an Indian self-proclaimed white-hat computer hacker, author, and television host. He is considered to be a security charlatan. His work mostly involves OS and networking tips and tricks and proxy websites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of Internet conflicts</span>

The Internet has a long history of turbulent relations, major maliciously designed disruptions, and other conflicts. This is a list of known and documented Internet, Usenet, virtual community and World Wide Web related conflicts, and of conflicts that touch on both offline and online worlds with possibly wider reaching implications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in South Africa</span>

Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. When compared to other countries, South Africa has notably high rates of violent crime and has a reputation for consistently having one of the highest murder rates in the world. The country also experiences high rates of organised crime relative to other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anonymous (hacker group)</span> Decentralized hacktivist group

Anonymous is a decentralized international activist and hacktivist collective and movement primarily known for its various cyberattacks against several governments, government institutions and government agencies, corporations and the Church of Scientology.

EC-Council is a cybersecurity certification, education, training, and services company based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

South Africa has been dubbed "the protest capital of the world", with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LulzSec</span> Hacker group

LulzSec is a grey hat computer hacking group that claimed responsibility for several high profile attacks, including the compromise of user accounts from PlayStation Network in 2011. The group also claimed responsibility for taking the CIA website offline. Some security professionals have commented that LulzSec has drawn attention to insecure systems and the dangers of password reuse. It has gained attention due to its high profile targets and the sarcastic messages it has posted in the aftermath of its attacks. One of the founders of LulzSec was computer security specialist Hector Monsegur, who used the online moniker Sabu. He later helped law enforcement track down other members of the organization as part of a plea deal. At least four associates of LulzSec were arrested in March 2012 as part of this investigation. Prior, British authorities had announced the arrests of two teenagers they alleged were LulzSec members, going by the pseudonyms T-flow and Topiary.

Teamp0ison was a computer security research group consisting of 3 to 5 core members. The group gained notoriety in 2011/2012 for its blackhat hacking activities, which included attacks on the United Nations, NASA, NATO, Facebook, Minecraft Pocket Edition Forums, and several other large corporations and government entities. TeaMp0isoN disbanded in 2012 following the arrests of some of its core members, "TriCk", and "MLT".

Anonymous is a decentralised virtual community. They are commonly referred to as an internet-based collective of hacktivists whose goals, like its organization, are decentralized. Anonymous seeks mass awareness and revolution against what the organization perceives as corrupt entities, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Anonymous has had a hacktivist impact. This is a timeline of activities reported to be carried out by the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Singapore cyberattacks</span> Cyberattacks done on Singaporean websites

The 2013 Singapore cyberattacks were a series of cyberattacks initiated by the hacktivist organisation Anonymous, conducted partly in response to web censorship regulations in Singapore. A member of Anonymous, known by the online handle "The Messiah", claimed responsibility for spearheading the attacks. On 12 November 2013, James Raj was charged in a Singapore court as the alleged "Messiah".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Premier Netball League (South Africa)</span> Top level netball league in South Africa

The Premier Netball League is the top level netball league featuring teams from South Africa. It was formed in 2014 and is organised by Netball South Africa. Between 2014 and 2018, due to sponsorship and naming rights arrangements, the league was known as the Brutal Fruit Netball Cup. Since 2019, the league has been sponsored by Telkom and, as a result, it is widely known as the Telkom Netball League. In 2014, Free State Crinums were the inaugural winners. Gauteng Jaguars are the league's most successful team, having won six titles. The league features two divisions and uses a promotion and relegation format. The winners of the Division Two Shield can gain promotion to Division One by winning a play off.

Pakbugs was a Pakistani-based security forum offering security releases updates, discussion of hacking, credit card fraud, phishing and other forms of computer crime; as well as trading in malware, bank login details and stolen credit card numbers. The forum was shut down after multiple raids by Pakistani Federal Investigation Agency on its members in 2010, in which five individuals were arrested, with the alleged founder suspected to remain at large in Riyadh.

Mariske Strauss is a South African cross-country mountain biker.

Ghana has one of the highest rates of cybercrime in the world, ranking 7th in a 2008 Internet Crime Survey. The most popular form of cybercrime in Ghana is cyberfraud and is typically achieved via credit card fraud. However, recent decreases in universal credit card usage has seen the expansion of other cybercrimes such as blackmail and hacking. This growth in crime has warranted a government response, with policies specifically addressing the cyberspace being developed. This has necessitated various studies including a cyber security maturity study which was inaugurated by the Ministry of Communications and conducted by the Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) of the University of Oxford in collaboration with the World Bank.

References

  1. ↑ "The Use of Computers to Support Oppression".
  2. ↑ "Book says hacker tried to stop Mandela coming to power". BBC News. 26 October 2010.
  3. ↑ Gustav Thiel (12 January 2004). "Hackers vandalise 45 South African websites". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "ISN 1998/11: [ISN] South Africa police arrest teen hacker". lists.jammed.com.
  5. ↑ "Hacker compromises DA website - the Mail & Guardian". 15 August 2008.
  6. ↑ "BBC News | Africa | Hackers deface SA stats site".
  7. ↑ "BBC News | Africa | Hackers deface SA stats site". 22 July 2003.
  8. ↑ "Moroccan hackers blamed for website blitz".
  9. ↑ "Three South African Banks Hit by Hackers". 4 July 2006.
  10. ↑ "RICA doomed for failure?". 14 July 2009.
  11. ↑ "Computing - the UK's leading source for the analysis of business technology".
  12. ↑ "Hackers expose South African banks". Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "Second Live Hacking Workshop in South Africa an Overwhelming Success | Hacker Journals". Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  14. ↑ "Certified Ethical Hacker Course Cape Town Training CEH Certification Classes South Africa". Archived from the original on 16 December 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "Gauteng local government website falls prey to hackers". www.mg.co.za. 27 January 2010. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010.
  16. ↑ "Unknown".[ permanent dead link ]
  17. ↑ "BusinessLIVE".
  18. ↑ "GhostShell doesn't quite hack South Africa - The Mail & Guardian". 30 January 2013.
  19. ↑ "SAPS website hacked: Report | the New Age Online". Archived from the original on 8 June 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
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