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Why would anybody self-proclaim to be associated with any group that could even be remotely linked to illegal activity or political dissension? Especially a gro

Why would anybody self-proclaim to be associated with any group that could even be remotely linked to illegal activity or political dissension? Especially a group colloquially known as a script kiddie haven. Every time I hear about people getting caught up in stuff like this, I'm reminded of the book "True Names" by Vernor Vinge. As long as nobody knows your real (government) name, you have a degree of safety in cyberspace. But once your identity is known, you become a much bigger target.

eksith 13y ago
>Why would anybody self-proclaim to be associated with any group that could even be remotely linked to illegal activity or political dissension? Same reason some criminals brag about their exploits on Facebook... only to be caught the same day. Pride, status and notoriety.
orangethirty 13y ago
For something referred to as cred. This is a mix of social status, proof of skills, and attitude. Gangs use cred as a way to measure the value of their members. A person who brags about doing illegal things is only doing so to elevate his cred. Having street cred is more valuable than money in many circles. Due to how it allows a person to operate within a limited set of rules inside a community. A gang member with a lot of cred can simply do things other members cannot. Such as having first pick at food, housing, vehicles, and money.
- Oxxide 13y ago
  to my dismay, internet cred does not share a 1:1 ratio with street cred.
  - orangethirty 13y ago
    Depends on various factors. It may be valued higher. Posting online nets a wider audience.
  - dobbsbob 13y ago
    Internet cred applies to pen cred surprisingly. If you go down for hacking and do not become an informant, you will find job offers inside the pen for teaching other criminals comsec so they can run their outside drug operations. If they can read about you then it applies to your standings in the pen hierarchy. That's why prison is never rehab for hackers. They just network with the street criminals and come out super criminals with full cred like Max Vision or the software developer kid here where I live that did a bid for bank fraud, met some gangsters in prison, paroled as a ranking member in their violent dial a dope crew and police have been unable to break up the gang since he joined and took over the comsec and allegedly money laundering for them. They accused him of being able to leak the whereabouts of rivals to his own gang too by social engineering the media and police, plus hacking their blackberries. Strong security knowledge + violent criminal pact with bikers = not good
    - MartinMond 13y ago
      How do you know stuff like this? Can you recommend a good book that covers recent history?
      - dontstealmyname 13y ago
        You might find this book interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Kingpin-Hacker-Billion-Dollar-Cybercrime-Underground/dp/0307588696 http://www.amazon.com/Kingpin-Hacker-Billion-Dollar-Cybercri... I've read it and can confirm its a good read. I think this guy was arrested in 2005 or 2007 but that's going on memory from over a year ago.
        SageRaven 13y ago
        Good, entertaining read. I get the impression it was sanitized a great deal, because I was sorely disappointed with the lack of technical meat-n-potatoes. For instance, the author totally glossed over how they recovered the data from his encrypted storage at the end. Was the PC left on and the screen not locked? Cold boot attack? Brute force? Hell, they didn't even specify exactly which crypto software was used.
hondje 13y ago
I wrote a cpl of twitterbots that basically went full provacateur to test the reaction to them during Arab Spring / OWS and find out who is surveilling what, and how they react. Fascinating results, and it seems no one thought "maybe we're being trolled, lets keep some cards close to our chest". But there's a big difference between looking for exploits by trolling and what this cat did.
- gyardley 13y ago
  Huh, that's interesting. Did you ever write up and share what you found? I'd like to read it.
  - hondje 13y ago
    Honestly? I learned that when you stir up shit you better be ready to be on a lot of lists. I am now very paranoid, like have an airwall and never ever talk politics online scary.

eksith 13y ago

>Why would anybody self-proclaim to be associated with any group that could even be remotely linked to illegal activity or political dissension? Same reason some criminals brag about their exploits on Facebook... only to be caught the same day. Pride, status and notoriety.

orangethirty 13y ago

For something referred to as cred. This is a mix of social status, proof of skills, and attitude. Gangs use cred as a way to measure the value of their members. A person who brags about doing illegal things is only doing so to elevate his cred. Having street cred is more valuable than money in many circles. Due to how it allows a person to operate within a limited set of rules inside a community. A gang member with a lot of cred can simply do things other members cannot. Such as having first pick at food, housing, vehicles, and money.

Oxxide 13y ago
to my dismay, internet cred does not share a 1:1 ratio with street cred.
- orangethirty 13y ago
  Depends on various factors. It may be valued higher. Posting online nets a wider audience.
- dobbsbob 13y ago
  Internet cred applies to pen cred surprisingly. If you go down for hacking and do not become an informant, you will find job offers inside the pen for teaching other criminals comsec so they can run their outside drug operations. If they can read about you then it applies to your standings in the pen hierarchy. That's why prison is never rehab for hackers. They just network with the street criminals and come out super criminals with full cred like Max Vision or the software developer kid here where I live that did a bid for bank fraud, met some gangsters in prison, paroled as a ranking member in their violent dial a dope crew and police have been unable to break up the gang since he joined and took over the comsec and allegedly money laundering for them. They accused him of being able to leak the whereabouts of rivals to his own gang too by social engineering the media and police, plus hacking their blackberries. Strong security knowledge + violent criminal pact with bikers = not good
  - MartinMond 13y ago
    How do you know stuff like this? Can you recommend a good book that covers recent history?
    - dontstealmyname 13y ago
      You might find this book interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Kingpin-Hacker-Billion-Dollar-Cybercrime-Underground/dp/0307588696 http://www.amazon.com/Kingpin-Hacker-Billion-Dollar-Cybercri... I've read it and can confirm its a good read. I think this guy was arrested in 2005 or 2007 but that's going on memory from over a year ago.
      - SageRaven 13y ago
        Good, entertaining read. I get the impression it was sanitized a great deal, because I was sorely disappointed with the lack of technical meat-n-potatoes. For instance, the author totally glossed over how they recovered the data from his encrypted storage at the end. Was the PC left on and the screen not locked? Cold boot attack? Brute force? Hell, they didn't even specify exactly which crypto software was used.

hondje 13y ago

I wrote a cpl of twitterbots that basically went full provacateur to test the reaction to them during Arab Spring / OWS and find out who is surveilling what, and how they react. Fascinating results, and it seems no one thought "maybe we're being trolled, lets keep some cards close to our chest". But there's a big difference between looking for exploits by trolling and what this cat did.

gyardley 13y ago
Huh, that's interesting. Did you ever write up and share what you found? I'd like to read it.
- hondje 13y ago
  Honestly? I learned that when you stir up shit you better be ready to be on a lot of lists. I am now very paranoid, like have an airwall and never ever talk politics online scary.