W00w00

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w00w00 (pronounced whoo-whoo) was a computer security think tank founded in 1996 and active until the early 2000s. [1] [2] [ unreliable source? ] Although this group was not well known outside Information security circles, its participants have spawned more than a dozen IT companies, including WhatsApp and Napster. [3] [4]

Contents

Participants

The group at one point included over 30 active participants and spanned 12 countries on five continents. [1] [3] [5]

The following is a list of some of w00w00's participants:

Notable companies

A number of well known companies have been established by its participants. [1] [3] [12] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napster</span> Online peer-to-peer file sharing software

Napster was an American peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution. Founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, the platform originally launched on June 1, 1999. Audio shared on the service was typically encoded in the MP3 format. As the software became popular, the company encountered legal difficulties over copyright infringement. Napster ceased operations in 2001 after losing multiple lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy in June 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SQL injection</span> Computer hacking technique

In computing, SQL injection is a code injection technique used to attack data-driven applications, in which malicious SQL statements are inserted into an entry field for execution. SQL injection must exploit a security vulnerability in an application's software, for example, when user input is either incorrectly filtered for string literal escape characters embedded in SQL statements or user input is not strongly typed and unexpectedly executed. SQL injection is mostly known as an attack vector for websites but can be used to attack any type of SQL database.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WordPress</span> Content management system

WordPress is a web content management system. It was originally created as a tool to publish blogs but has evolved to support publishing other web content, including more traditional websites, mailing lists and Internet forum, media galleries, membership sites, learning management systems, and online stores. Available as free and open-source software, WordPress is among the most popular content management systems – it was used by 43.1% of the top 10 million websites as of December 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Parker</span> American entrepreneur and philanthropist (born 1979)

Sean Parker is an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, most notable for co-founding the file-sharing computer service Napster, and was the first president of the social networking website Facebook. He also co-founded Plaxo, Causes, Airtime.com, and Brigade, an online platform for civic engagement. He is the founder and chairman of the Parker Foundation, which focuses on life sciences, global public health, and civic engagement. On the Forbes 2022 list of the world's billionaires, he was ranked No. 1,096 with a net worth of US$2.8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HackThisSite</span> Organization

HackThisSite.org, commonly referred to as HTS, is an online hacking and security website founded by Jeremy Hammond. The site is maintained by members of the community after he left the organization. It aims to provide users with a way to learn and practice basic and advanced "hacking" skills through a series of challenges in a safe and legal environment. The organization has a user base of over a million, though the number of active members is believed to be much lower. The most users online at the same time was 19,950 on February 5, 2018 at 2:46 a.m.CT.

Solidity is a programming language for implementing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms, most notably, Ethereum. Solidity is licensed under GNU General Public License v3.0. Solidity was designed by Gavin Wood and developed by Christian Reitwiessner, Alex Beregszaszi, and several former Ethereum core contributors. Programs in Solidity run on Ethereum Virtual Machine or on compatible virtual machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Azure</span> Cloud computing platform by Microsoft

Microsoft Azure, or just Azure, is the cloud computing platform developed by Microsoft. It has management, access and development of applications and services to individuals, companies, and governments through its global infrastructure. It also provides capabilities that are usually not included within other cloud platforms, including software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), and infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Microsoft Azure supports many programming languages, tools, and frameworks, including Microsoft-specific and third-party software and systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordan Ritter</span>

Jordan Ritter is an American serial entrepreneur, software architect and angel investor. He is best known for his work at Napster, the file-sharing service he co-founded along with Shawn Fanning and others. His time at Napster was documented in Joseph Menn's book All the Rave: The Rise and Fall of Shawn Fanning's Napster and Alex Winter's film Downloaded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WhatsApp</span> Messaging and VoIP service owned by Meta

WhatsApp is an instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.

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".

In July 2012, Yahoo Voice, a user-generated content platform owned by Yahoo, suffered a major data breach. On July 11, 2012, a hacking group calling itself "D33DS Company" posted a file online containing approximately 450,000 login credentials and passwords from Yahoo Voice users. The data was obtained through a SQL injection attack that exploited vulnerabilities in Yahoo's database servers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NullCrew</span>

NullCrew was a hacktivist group founded in 2012 that took responsibility for multiple high-profile computer attacks against corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kali Linux</span> Debian-based Linux distribution for penetration testing

Kali Linux is a Linux distribution designed for digital forensics and penetration testing. It is maintained and funded by Offensive Security. The software is based on the Debian Testing branch: most packages Kali uses are imported from the Debian repositories. The tagline of Kali Linux and BackTrack is "The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear", which is displayed on some backgrounds, see this example.

Ryan Ackroyd, a.k.a.Kayla and also lolspoon, is a former black hat hacker who was one of the six core members of the computer hacking group "LulzSec" during its 50-day spree of attacks from 6 May 2011 until 26 June 2011. Throughout the time, Ackroyd posed as a female hacker named "Kayla" and was responsible for the penetration of multiple military and government domains and many high profile intrusions into the networks of Gawker in December 2010, HBGaryFederal in 2011, PBS, Sony, Infragard Atlanta, Fox Entertainment and others. He eventually served 30 months in prison for his hacking activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethereum</span> Open-source blockchain computing platform

Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-source software.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan Koum</span> Ukrainian-born American entrepreneur, co-founder of WhatsApp

Jan Borysovych Koum is a Ukrainian-American billionaire businessman and computer programmer. He is the co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, a mobile messaging app which was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for US$19.3 billion. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$15.2 billion as of October 2023, making him one of the richest people in the world. Koum was ranked 44th on the Forbes' list of richest Americans in 2023 with a net worth of $15.1 billion.

Brian Acton is an American business executive and computer programmer serving as the executive chairperson of Signal Technology Foundation, which he co-founded with Moxie Marlinspike in 2018. Acton also serves as interim chief executive officer (CEO) of Signal Messenger LLC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The DAO</span> Early decentralized business based on the Ethereum blockchain

The DAO was a digital decentralized autonomous organization and a form of investor-directed venture capital fund. After launching in April 2016 via a token sale, it became one of the largest crowdfunding campaigns in history, but it ceased activity after much of its funds were taken in a hack in June 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reception and criticism of WhatsApp security and privacy features</span> Reception and criticism of security and privacy features in the WhatsApp messaging service

This article provides a detailed chronological account of the historical reception and criticism of security and privacy features in the WhatsApp messaging service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solana (blockchain platform)</span> Public blockchain platform

Solana is a blockchain platform which uses a proof-of-stake mechanism to provide smart contract functionality. Its native cryptocurrency is SOL.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Inside The Billion-Dollar Hacker Club". TechCrunch . March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2014.
  2. "Interview with Matt Conover (Shok), w00w00 Hacker". Help Net Security. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Elite security posse fostered founders of WhatsApp, Napster". Reuters . March 7, 2014. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "The Rags-To-Riches Tale Of How Jan Koum Built WhatsApp Into Facebook's New $19 Billion Baby". Forbes . February 19, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  5. "Manden der fik os til at tro, at musik skulle være gratis". Politiken. March 15, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  6. "Talari Product Page". stuff.co.nz. March 11, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  7. "Interview with Matt Conover (Shok), w00w00 Hacker - Help Net Security". Help Net Security. April 1, 2002. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  8. "How Was SQL Injection Discovered?". www.esecurityplanet.com. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  9. "Foes With Grudge Sludge Drudge". wired.com. September 14, 1999. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
  10. "ethereum/webthree-umbrella Contributors". github.com. December 22, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2024.
  11. Castillo, Michelle (April 19, 2017). "How a high schooler hacked into a security company and ended up with a job". CNBC. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  12. "A file-trading ship of fools". Salon . April 22, 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2014.