Cult of the Dead Cow

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Cult of the Dead Cow, also known as cDc

or cDc Communications, is a computer
hacker and DIY media organization
founded in 1984 in Lubbock, Texas.
 Cult of the Dead Cow

cDc Paramedia Logo

Formation 1984

Purpose Hacking/DIY media

Location United States

Origin Lubbock, Texas
Founders Grandmaster Ratte'
 Franken Gibe
Sid Vicious
Products The original e-zine
Back Orifice
BO2k
NBName
SMBRelay
Torpark

Key people Mudge

DilDog
Sir Dystic
The Deth Vegetable
FreqOut
Oxblood Ruffin
Omega
White Knight
Reid Fleming
Krass Katt
Lord Digital
Obscure Images
Tweety Fish
Lady Carolin
ChukE
JavaMan
Sunspot
Count Zero
G.A. Ellsworth
Myles Long
Mixter
Assrabbit[1]
 Psychedelic Warlord
(Beto O'Rourke)[2]

Affiliations Hacktivismo
Ninja Strike Force
L0pht
Mindvox
Legion of Doom
Echelon
Masters of Deception
YIPL/TAP
Sacrament of
Transition
Hong Kong Blondes
RDT
ACiD Productions
 Soulz at Zero
Neon Knights

Website cultdeadcow.com

Timeline
_ _
((___))
[ x x ]
\ /
(' ')
(U)

cDc's ASCII art

cowskull logo

The group was formed in June 1984 at the

Farm Pac slaughterhouse by Grandmaster
Ratte' (aka Swamp Ratte'), Franken Gibe,
Sid Vicious, and three BBS SysOps. [a]

In the 1980s the Cult of the Dead Cow

organized and maintained a loose
collective of affiliated BBSs across the US
and Canada. It was during this time that
the cDc is credited with coining the term
"31337" as an alternative spelling of "Eleet"
or "Elite",[3] an expression denoting skill or
greatness in a person, place, or thing.

In December 1990, cDc member Drunkfux

– the pseudonym of Jesse Dryden, the son
of Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer
Dryden and grand nephew of Charlie
Chaplin – gave birth to the modern hacker
con. HoHoCon, usually held in Houston,
Texas, was the first hacker conference
which invited the participation of both
journalists and law enforcement. In all, dFx
hosted five annual HoHoCons.

In 1991, cDc was named "Sassiest

Underground Computer Group" by Sassy
magazine.[4] Also in 1991, the group began
distributing music in the form of cassette
tape albums sold through its post office
box. Many of these albums are now
available online in their entirety.

October 1994 saw the creation of the

cDc's Usenet newsgroup, alt.fan.cult-dead-
cow.[5] It was thus the first hacking group
to have its own Usenet newsgroup. In
November of that year, the group claimed
responsibility for giving Ronald Reagan
Alzheimer's disease, claiming to have done
so in 1986 with a blowgun.[6]

The cDc declared war on the Church of

Scientology in 1995 during the
alt.religion.scientology controversy,[7][8]
stating

We believe that El Ron Hubbard

[sic] is actually none other than
Heinrich Himmler of the SS, who
fled to Argentina and is now
responsible for the stealing of
babies from hospitals and
raising them as 'super-soldiers'
for the purpose of overthrowing
the U.S. Fed. Govt. in a bloody
revolution. We fear plans for a
 'Fourth Reich' to be established
on our home soil under the vise-
like grip of oppression known as
Scientology!

In 1997, the cDc began distributing original

MP3-format music on its website.[9]

In August 1998, they presented their

popular Back Orifice tool at DEF CON 6.

In February 2000, the cDc was the subject

of an 11-minute documentary short titled
"Disinformation". Also in February 2000,
cDc member Mudge briefed President Bill
Clinton on Internet security.[10]

cDc communications
cDc communications is the parent
organisation of Cult of the Dead Cow, one
of three groups that fall under cDc
communications. The other two are the
Ninja Strike Force and Hacktivismo.

Ninja Strike Force …

In 1996, the cDc announced the birth of its

Ninja Strike Force, a group of "ninja"
dedicated to achieving the goals of the
cDc, an intervention task force both online
and offline.[11] The cDc opened the NSF
Dojo[12] in 2004. An "NSF Dojo" Member
also operates a streaming radio station,
which features recordings of hacker con
presentations and other educational
programming in addition to a wide range
of musical styles and artists.

Membership in the NSF is granted by the

cDc to those individuals who stand out in
their support of the cDc and its ideals.
Members are recognized for their abilities,
capabilities, and being the best of the best
in their skills.

In 2006 the Ninja Strike Force launched its

own microsite.[13]

Hacktivismo …

In late 1999, the cDc created Hacktivismo,

an independent group under the cDc
communications umbrella dedicated to
the creation of anti-censorship technology
in furtherance of human rights on the
Internet. The group's beliefs are described
fully in The Hacktivismo Declaration, which
seeks to apply the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to
the Internet.[14] Among Hacktivismo's
beliefs include access to information as a
basic human right. The organization
partially shares Critical Art Ensemble's
(CAE) belief in the value of secrecy, but
challenges both with CAE and many
hacktivists on the subject of civil
disobedience. The cDc model is, instead,
one of disruptive compliance.[15]
Disruptive, in this case, refers to disruptive
technology; compliance refers back to the
Internet and its original intent of
constructive free-flow and openness.[16]
Hacktivismo has also authored its own
software license agreement, the
Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software
License Agreement, which is source
available (but not open source).[17] Their
work focuses on the development of
software that empowers conduct
forbidden by repression, rather than
enabling (private or public) attacks on
repressors.[15] In general cDc hopes that
open code can become the lingua franca
of a hacktivism that seeks to wage peace,
not war. While the term isn't used, the
software described in cDc's "Waging of
Peace on the Internet"[18] would create a
set of connections between dissidents
that sound in technoliberationist terms,
rhizomatic.[15]

Crossover associations with other

groups
…

In addition to the obvious associations

between Cult of the Dead Cow,
Hacktivismo, and the Ninja Strike Force,
the cDc also has crossover associations
with several other organizations. These
include the L0pht; founding members
White Knight and Count Zero and final
members Dildog and Mudge are all
members of cDc. Additionally, The
Nightstalker was a member of Youth
International Party Line/Technology
Assistance Program. Lord Digital, one of
the founders of Mindvox, is a former
member of LOD/H and a current member
of the Sacrament of Transition. Red Knight
was a member of the Masters of
Deception. Also, RaD Man, a member of
the Ninja Strike Force, is one of the
founders of ACiD Productions. Another
NSF member, Mark Hinge, is a founding
member of the British hacker group The
Syndicate Of London. Flack, another Ninja
Strike Force member, was a co-founder of
the horror "lit group" Soulz at Zero. Mudge
later went on to program manage the
CINDER program at DARPA, which aimed
to detect 'insider threats' like the
WikiLeaks sources.[19]

Electronic publication
During the 1980s, the cDc was well known
throughout the BBS scene for their
underground ezine, also called Cult of the
Dead Cow,.[20] The group claims to have
invented the ezine.

The ezine has led to some criticism of the

group over the years; in a 1994 episode of
Geraldo entitled "Computer Vice," Geraldo
Rivera referred to the group as "a bunch of
sickos" for having published an article
called "Sex with Satan," originally
published in 1988.[21][22]

Hacktivism
In 1996, cDc member Omega used the
term "hacktivism" in an email to other
group members.[23] The group has been
active in hacktivist causes since that time.

Hong Kong Blondes …

In the late 1990s, the cDc claimed to have

worked with a group of Chinese dissidents
called "The Hong Kong Blondes." The
group’s ostensible goal was to disrupt
computer networks within the People's
Republic of China in order to allow citizens
to access censored content online. The
Hong Kong Blondes were, ostensibly one
of the first hacktivist groups, though the
group's existence and actions have proven
to be an invented fiction. The cDc first
spoke about the group publicly in a
presentation at the 1997 Beyond HOPE
Conference held at The Puck Building in
New York City.[24] Members claimed to
have advised the group on strong
encryption techniques.[25][26][27][28] The cDc
formally severed ties with the Hong Kong
Blondes in December 1998.[29] In 2015,
former cDc member Oxblood Ruffin
claimed without evidence that the hacking
activities attributed to the Hong Kong
Blondes were an invention intended to
create a diversion and cover for the
extraction of several Chinese pro-
democracy activists.[30] Asked about the
group during a White House meeting in
February 2000 organized by then National
Security Advisor Richard A. Clarke with
President Bill Clinton, Mudge admitted "We
made them up."[31]

Cyberwar …
On January 7, 1999, the cDc joined with an
international coalition of hackers to
denounce a call to cyberwar against the
governments of China and Iraq.[32]

Milošević trial …

When questioning Patrick Ball during his

International War Crimes Tribunal in 2002,
Slobodan Milošević asked Ball about his
relationship with the cDc.[33] Ball had given
a talk and been a member of a cDc-
sponsored panel on hacktivism[34] at DEF
CON 9 in 2001.
Goolag campaign …

In early 2006, the cDc launched the

"Goolag" (a play on gulag, Soviet forced
labour camps) campaign in response to
Google's decision to comply with China's
Internet censorship policy and censor
search results in the mainland-Chinese
version of its search engine. The
campaign consists primarily of the use of
a parody of Google's logo which reads
"Goolag: Exporting censorship, one search
at a time."[35][36][37] The group encouraged
readers to make t-shirts and other
merchandise and donate any proceeds
from their sale to Human Rights in China.

Students for a Free Tibet held an anti-

Google rally in Dharamsala, India on
February 14, 2006, employing the logo in a
variety of ways.[38] The cDc then issued a
press release about the campaign, wherein
it described Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, and
Cisco as the "Gang of Four" due to their
respective policies of compliance with the
Beijing government's Internet policies. The
United States Congress was also called
out on this issue in the release.[39] This
press release, originally entitled "Congress
jerks off, gang of four reach for raincoats,"
was picked up by many news sources, as
an abbreviated version of it was
distributed by PR Web (with the altered
title of "Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc)
Launches Campaign Against Internet
Censorship in China").[40]

Tools
The cDc has released several tools, for
both hackers/system administrators and
for the general public. Many of these are
related to computer security and are
sometimes dubbed "hacker tools".

The Automated Prayer Project …

The Automated Prayer Project,[41] written

by Javaman, is "a VT420 connected to a
Sun Ultra5 via a serial cable which displays
the output of a continuously running
program. The signaling rate is limited to
9600 baud. The program itself cycles
through the Rosary, displaying a new
individual prayer once every thirty
seconds. Each individual prayer is then
sent out via UDP to a random machine on
the Internet on a random port."

Back Orifice …

Back Orifice (often shortened to BO) is a

computer program designed for remote
system administration. It enables a user to
control a computer running Microsoft
Windows operating system from a remote
location. The name is a pun on Microsoft
BackOffice Server software. The program
debuted at DEF CON 6 on August 1, 1998.
It was the brainchild of Sir Dystic.
According to the group, its purpose was to
demonstrate the lack of security in
Microsoft's operating system Windows
98.[42]

Back Orifice 2000 …

Back Orifice 2000 (often shortened to

BO2k) is a computer program that is
similar in function to Back Orifice. Back
Orifice 2000 debuted on July 10, 1999 at
DEF CON 7. The original code was written
by Dildog. Whereas the original Back
Orifice was limited to the Windows 95 and
Windows 98 operating systems, BO2k also
supports Windows NT, Windows XP and
Windows 2000. Some BO2k client
functionality has also been implemented
for *nix-systems. In addition, BO2k was
released under the GPL.[43] As of 2012,
BO2k is being actively developed.[44]

Camera/Shy …

Camera/Shy was the first Hacktivismo

project released. It debuted in 2002 at the
H.O.P.E. 2k2 convention in New York City.
It is a steganographic tool that scans for
and delivers decrypted content directly
from the world wide web.[45]

NBName …

NBName is a computer program that can

be used to carry out denial-of-service
attacks that can disable NetBIOS services
on Windows machines. It was written by
Sir Dystic and released July 29, 2000 at
the DEF CON 8 convention in Las Vegas.

ScatterChat …
ScatterChat is an encrypted instant
messaging client based on Gaim. It was
written by J. Salvatore Testa II and
released at the H.O.P.E. Number Six
conference in New York City on July 22,
2006. It provides encryption as well as
integrated onion routing with Tor, and
secure file transfers.[46][47] Various flaws in
the software have been elaborated by
researchers.[48][49]

The Six/Four System …

The Six/Four System is a censorship-
resistant network proxy written by Mixter,
a member of both cDc and Hacktivismo. It
works by using "trusted peers" to relay
network connections over SSL encrypted
links.[50] Hacktivismo and the cDc further
gained notoriety in 2003 when the Six/Four
System became the first product of a
hacker group to receive approval from the
United States Department of Commerce
for export of strong encryption.[51]

SMBRelay and SMBRelay2 …

SMBRelay and SMBRelay2 are computer
programs that can be used to carry out
SMB man-in-the-middle attacks on
Windows machines. They were written by
Sir Dystic and released March 21, 2001 at
the @lantacon convention in Atlanta,
Georgia.

Torpark …

XeroBank Browser (formerly known as

Torpark) is a variant of the Portable
Firefox web browser with Tor built into it.
Torpark is intended for use on portable
media such as a USB flash drive but it can
also be used on any hard disk drive.
cDc/Hacktivismo co-released v.1.5.0.7
along with Steve Topletz on September 19,
2006.[52][53][54]

Whisker …

Whisker is a project authored by Rain

Forest Puppy that is no longer in
development. It checked for thousands of
known security vulnerabilities in web
servers.[55] Whisker Version 1.4 was co-
released by the cDc at DEF CON 8 in 2000.
See also
2600: The Hacker Quarterly
Chaos Computer Club
DEADBEEF
H.O.P.E.
Legion of Doom
Masters of Deception
Operation Cybersnare
Phrack

Notes
 a. The slaughterhouse, a hangout of
many Lubbock youth, was burned
down in 1996. The burned out building
was used as a haunted house for
several Halloweens after that. In 2001,
the grounds surrounding it were
converted into the "West Texas
Canyon Amphitheater" and re-opened
as the Lone Star Amphitheater in
2006)

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