Security company: Pro-Islamic hacker groups joining forces globally

Jerusalem Post ^ | 6/20/02

[areafiftyone]

Internet security company mi2g says there is mounting evidence that individual hacker groups are coalescing and becoming interconnected through a common pro-Islamic agenda.

According to the company, each group is carrying out digital attacks under a common banner and has pooled expertise to forcibly broadcast political views that are anti-Israel, anti-US, anti-UK and anti-India.

"The most important lesson learnt from these events is the coming together of pro-Islamic groups to simultaneously participate in joint digital attacks on US, UK, Israeli and Indian targets," said mi2g chairman D.K. Matai. "Historically, the US has been allied with Pakistan. It seems that recent political and cyberspace events are both pointing toward a closer alignment of interests in the near future of the US, India and Israel."

According to mi2g, the three main pro-Islamic and anti-US, Israel and India aggregate hacker groups are:

USG (Unix Security Guards) - an anti-Israel alliance formed in early May that has been responsible for 87 overt digital attacks since. It consists of four member groups - Egyptian Fighter, rD, Inkubus and ShellCode. Egyptian Fighter was responsible for the largest number of digital attacks this year on Israeli (.il) sites. USG and its members are collectively responsible for 161 overt digital attacks to date.

WFD (World's Fantabulous Defacers) - a Pakistani alliance of 12 member groups that has overtly attacked 445 sites since November 2000 with messages opposing the Indian presence in Kashmir or the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. In a recent anti-Israel overt digital attack, WFD acknowledged 32 other hacker groups and individuals, many of them with anti-US and anti-India agendas.

AIC (Anti-India Crew) - a Pakistani alliance established in July 2001 that is also carrying out digital attacks with anti-India and anti-US/UK messages. AIC is responsible for 422 attacks to date, 77 of them on Indian (.in) sites, some of those in collaboration with WFD.

USG and AIC carried out a total of 111 overt digital attacks between them in May at the height of tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, mi2g said. Sites attacked include universities, educational institutions, businesses, hotels and retailers.

The company said that so-called "hacktivism" has mirrored international political conflict since the late 1990s, with two key events being the NATO-Serbia and China-Taiwan conflicts in 1999.

In 2002, Matai said, this has been evident during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when the Israeli army occupied Palestinian territories. During those periods, he said, there has been a sudden explosion of overt digital attacks on Israeli sites and heavy political content in the multimedia messages left.

mi2g Software is a London based electronic risk management company that builds secure online trading, broking and banking architectures. Clients include Wal-Mart, Apple Computers, Barclays, Citigroup and Lloyds.

[Salman]

Technological Jiu-Jitsu.