- Level Seven
Infobox computer underground
group_name = The Level Seven Crew
caption = Level Seven Crew Logo
origin = North,New Jersey
country =United States
status = inactive
years_active = 1994–2000
category =Hacker groups hacker
founders = foil
vent
affiliates = globalHell (gH), HFG
website =
The Level Seven Crew, also known as "Level Seven", "Level 7" or "L7", was a hacking group during the mid to late 90's. Eventually dispersing in early 2000 when nominal head 'vent' was raided by the
FBI onFebruary 25 2000 .Origins
Thought to have been derived from
Dante Alighieri ’s novel,The Inferno . The group called themselves Level Seven after the seventh level of hell, the "violent".Contained in all of the group’s web defacements, was the quote: "il livello sette posidare la vostra famiglia", which loosely translated from Italian says, "Level Seven owns your family".
The group, spent most of their time on IRC - in the
EFNet channel #LevelSeven discussing security, or the lack there of. The group was also associated with other high-profile hacking groups such as, Global Hell (gH) and Hacking for Girliez (HFG).Notability
The hacking group was noted in Attrition's Top 20 most active group's of all time by claiming responsibility for over 60 unauthorized penetrations of computer systems in 1999 alone, including The
First American National Bank , [http://fgdc.gov The Federal Geographic Data Committee] ,NASA and Sheraton Hotels.cite journal
url=http://attrition.org/security/blackhat/BH-2000-fff-public.ppt
author=Attrition
title=Feds, Felons and Flakes: Reflections on the Attrition Mirror
date=January, 2000
format = ppt
accessdate = 10/06/2006 ]Level Seven is also credited with being the first group to hack a
.ma domain and server located inMorocco . The server was owned by the [http://www.ucam.ac.ma/ Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Marrakech]However, the group is most widely known for the
September 7 1999 defacement of ( [http://www.usembassy-china.gov The US Embassy in China's Website] ), in regards to the1998 U.S. embassy bombings .Level Seven typify a breed of hackers who exploit or attack computers and networks for more than just the thrill and challenge, and for reasons other than money. They were activists, and they used their computer skills to make political statements and protest actions by government and industry. Thus, they bridged the realms of hacking and
activism , operating in a domain that is now called "hacktivism ".cite journal
quotes =
last = Denning
first = Dorothy
date = September, 2000
year = 2000
month = 09
title = Hacktivism: An Emerging Threat to Diplomacy
url =http://www.afsa.org/fsj/sept00/Denning.cfm
format = doc
accessdate = 6/10/2004 ]Quotations
"I would be inclined to think that normal hackers would not be able to break into something like the US embassy. The security measures they use are very, very different to those protecting a commercial Web server."
- "Ian Jonsten-Bryden (British government security expert of Oceanus Security in Suffolk)""we embrace technology, we learn from it, we use it, and we exploit it. technology is a very powerful tool, as is knowledge, but some people go beyond these boundaries, testing limits, finding new ways and ideas... we call these people hackers, and we are one of many.."
- "vent, September 1999"References
External links
*cite web | author=Level Seven|title=Complete List of Defacements| publisher=Attrition| url=http://attrition.org/mirror/attrition/l7.html | accessdate=2005-02-06
*cite web | title=Hackers put racist, anti-government slogans on embassy site| publisher=CNN| date=
1999-09-07 | work=Insurgency on the Internet | url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/07/embassy.hack | accessdate=2005-07-06*cite web | title=Embassy site hackers aimed to show its vulnerability| publisher=CNN| date=
1999-09-08 | work=Insurgency on the Internet | url=http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/08/hack.folo | accessdate=2005-07-06*cite web | title=Embassy cracker may be playing government's game| author=Will Knight |publisher=ZDNet UK| date=
1999-09-10 | work=The response to crackers invading a US embassy site: It's just what the US wants.| url=http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,2073628,00.htm | accessdate=2006-03-05* [http://www.nwo.net/osall/News/What_Happens/what_happens.html Level Seven "Going Down"]
* [http://www.nwo.net/osall/News/Old_News/Level_Seven/level_seven.html Level Seven Interview]
* [http://www.nwo.net/osall/News/Old_News/Level_Seven/Response/response.html Level Seven Responds]
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