Neohacker

From Hackerpedia

Neohackers are a small subculture of hackers that revolve around the mantra 'knowledge for knowledge's sake'. They are normally distanced from traditional hackers by their use of methods usually associated with "crackers" and for their choice of motives. Also opposed to hackers, neohackers use screen names due to the often-illegal nature of their work. The difference between a neohacker and a cracker is that a neohacker does no permanent harm and only targets people or websites that he or she believes are more harm then they are good. Neohackers are generally Unionists.

The term 'neohacker', as well as their mantra, were coined by neohacker Khaos Cnight, one of three neohackers credited as the 'original' neohackers, known collectively as the Unholy Triad. Along with citrus fourteen and Ghost, Khaos was one of the administrators of unholytriad.tk, a website that operated from 2001 to late 2006 that was devoted entirely to spreading neohacking. They developed a devoted following in 2003 when they successfully disabled the 4chan image boards that contained adult content, claiming that they were 'insulting and degrading'. The Triad broke up in late 2006 when faced with a heavy lawsuit from various pornographic websites: Khaos also eliminated the website before all three retired from neohacking. Since then, neohackers have been working from below, often with minor DDoS attacks. Triad member citrus fourteen remains active amongst neohacker communities, although more and more neohackers are forced into retirement every day.

Neohackers are rather ironically fervent opponents of anything illegal on the internet, especially child pornography and piracy. They are also opposed to the creation of computer viruses and malware, to the point that they often attack websites explaining how to do so (and encouraging malicious use). Ironically, the first confirmed action by the Triad was to reactivate the dormant deh469 smart-worm and use it against several child pornography websites (before erasing the virus when they finished).

There is still much support for neohackers, even if very few decide to actually pursue the pack. Often they clash with more traditional hackers regarding their more militant methods (as opposed to making verbal protest), but there are still many devoted neohacker supporters on the internet. Their mantra, 'knowledge for knowledge's sake', is often a password of sorts for neohacker-friendly IRC channels and forums.

[edit] Philosophy

Neohackers believe that everything exists to be understood, and keeping that understanding away from the general public is disgraceful. As such, they are fervent advocates of open-source software and the Linux operating system. They also advocate for the right of a programmer to hold copyright of the software that they write, and fully control distribution of it and its source code.

The neohacker mantra 'knowledge for knowledge's sake' refers to the ideology that someone should look everywhere for answers, even places where they do not want to look. A generally benevolent neohacker may look to a direct attack on a site to get their point across, even if more legitimate means are available. This occurs generally because those legitimate means have little long-term effect on the situation.

Neohackers go by screen names and conceal their identities in part to protect themselves from any legal action that could be taken against them. Although a lawsuit by a child pornography site would not be taken seriously, their opposition to often-legal activities such as file-sharing and other varieties of adult material can lead to legal action, as indicated by the breakup of the Triad (due to a lawsuit).

[edit] Opposition

Often, traditional hackers will oppose the actions of neohackers as extremist and unnecessary. 'Lurkers' on sites such as 4chan oppose neohackers in part because neohackers oppose the center of their subculture. People in favor of file-sharing and piracy similarly disagree with neohacker culture's ideologies. Crackers dislike neohackers because of the steps they take against viruses and cracking attacks.