How the Epik hack reveals every secret the far-right tried to hide

A large-scale breach of the domain registrar and web hosting company Epik has exposed a massive trove of data, including the names of individuals behind some of the far-right’s most notorious websites.

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anonymous mask worn by man in epikfail hack

The data, as first reported by independent journalist Steven Monacelli on Monday, was released as a torrent this week by the hacking collective Anonymous.

In a press release on the hack, dubbed Operation EPIK FAIL, Anonymous claimed that it was able to obtain “a decade’s worth” of information, including domain registrations and transfers, account credentials, and emails from an Epik employee.

“This dataset is all that’s needed to trace actual ownership and management of the fascist side of the internet that has eluded researchers, activists, and, well, just about everybody,” the release alleges.

A compressed version of the torrent was later released by the journalist collective DDoSecrets, which plans to upload and host the data for reporters and researchers.

Epik’s customers include social media sites such as Parler and Gab as well as far-right forums like TheDonald. A pro-life website that urged Texas residents to report women seeking abortions to the authorities in the wake of the state’s abortion ruling was also temporarily a customer of Epik.

In a statement to Gizmodo on Tuesday, an Epik spokesperson claimed that the company was “not aware of any breach.”

Epik CEO Robert Monster sent an email on Wednesday to customers acknowledging “an alleged security incident” but did not provide specifics.

“Our internal team, working with external experts, have been working diligently to address the situation,” Monster wrote. “We are taking proactive steps to resolve the issue. We will update you on our progress.”

“You are in our prayers today. We are grateful for your support and prayer. When situations arise where individuals might not have honorable intentions, I pray for them,” Monster added. “I believe that what the enemy intends for evil, God invariably transforms into good.”

The Daily Dot attempted to reach Monster for comment, whose phone…