Tag Archive for: farright

Feds Fear Flipper Zero Use By Far-Right Documents Show

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Police departments in major cities have been put on alert over the Flipper Zero hacking tool and expressed concern over its potential use by racially motivated extremists, documents obtained by the Daily Dot show.

In an April 6, 2023 bulletin from the South Dakota Fusion Center (SDFC), which compiles and shares intelligence with law enforcement regarding perceived domestic threats, warnings were given about the possibility of extremist groups seeking to utilize the popular device.

“The NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau (ICB) assesses that racially and ethnically motivated violent extremists (REMVEs) may seek to exploit the hacking capabilities of a new cyber penetration tester, known as the Flipper Zero, in order to bypass access control systems,” the bulletin states.

flipper zero

REMVEs are described as any “loosely organized movement of individuals and groups that espouse some combination of racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, and homophobic ideology,” a report from the Rand Corporation states.

“The majority of REMVE actors are motivated by cultural nationalism or White supremacy—beliefs that Caucasian or ‘Aryan’ peoples represent superior races, and that ‘White culture’ is superior to other cultures,” the report adds.

In the intelligence bulletin, which the Daily Dot obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the NYPD ICB is said to be monitoring discussions of the Flipper Zero on the messaging app Telegram among groups such as “domestic and international hackers, hobbyists, doomsday preppers, and most notably, REMVEs and accelerationists.”

The Flipper Zero is a portable and digital multi-tool that can hack everything from radio protocols to access control systems. The device is capable of cloning RFID cards, such as those used to open hotel rooms, and has been shown to be able to bypass the security on certain brands of electronic safes. While the device is able to perform some impressive feats, its capabilities have also been greatly exaggerated in staged TikTok videos.

While the NYPD ICB admits that it has not observed REMVEs “explicitly discuss the potential for Flipper Zero…

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190 Mainers’ data exposed in hack of web company that serves far-right clients

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Financial and credit card information belonging to almost 200 Maine residents has been compromised in the hack of a web services company that’s popular with far-right groups.

The 190 Maine residents are among 110,000 people nationwide whose details were leaked in a breach of information from Epik, according to a data breach notice filed with the Maine Attorney General’s office last week. 

The information released through the hack has unmasked some Epik customers as operators behind websites supporting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and promoting Holocaust denial. 

The compromised information included financial account numbers or credit and debit card numbers, including security codes, access codes, and other passwords needed to gain access to those accounts and cards. 

There were no other identifying details about the Mainers whose data were leaked in the data breach notice filed with the attorney general’s office. 

Almost 10 years’ worth of data from Epik customers, including payment information, domain purchases and transfers, email addresses, and account credentials, were captured, according to Anonymous, the decentralized internet hacking collective that claimed responsibility for the Sept. 13 hack. 

Epik discovered the breach two days later, on Sept. 15.

“We have retained multiple cybersecurity partners to investigate the incident, secure our services, help affected users, and notify you, law enforcement, and other relevant authorities,” Epik wrote in a letter to customers. “We are continuing to communicate with relevant authorities and other stakeholders as well.” 

The company, based outside of Seattle, Washington, said it would offer affected Epik users free credit monitoring until Sept. 15, 2023. 

Epik has been criticized for providing services to extremist groups and websites that had been barred from using other web hosting services for hosting racist and anti-Semitic content, such as the Proud Boys and the social media sites Gab, Parler and 8chan. 

Amazon Web Services cut off Parler’s web service earlier this year due to its links to Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, and 8chan and Gab have been linked to men responsible…

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

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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.



graphical user interface: anonymous mask worn by man in epikfail hack

© Provided by Daily Dot
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.

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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…

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Christchurch shooting video still being downloaded by far-right extremists

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The Australian Federal Police analysis of Australians downloading Christchurch terrorism propaganda in the last quarter of 2020 highlighted the appeal of the New Zealand terror attacks to budding extremists. Sources aware of the findings outlined them to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Laws passed by the federal government after the Christchurch attack, carried out by Australian Brenton Tarrant, aimed to decrease the sharing of extremist material by making it an offence for online platforms and internet service providers to fail to remove or report such material.

In a recent submission to a federal parliamentary inquiry into extremism, the chief executive of the Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre, Rachael Falk, said the laws were “pioneering and pivotal” and noted that the apparent failure to charge any company under them “may serve to demonstrate the act’s deterrent effect”.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess.

ASIO director-general Mike Burgess.Credit:Nine

However, the federal police analysis of peer-to-peer extremist content downloaded by Australians suggests the deterrence may be limited and that extremist material is being distributed by companies outside the police’s jurisdictional reach.

An analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Ariel Bogle, will release a report on Thursday examining extremist fundraising online. She said her investigations had uncovered members of the Australian far-right using internet platforms to solicit funds.

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Ms Bogle said this included the use of live-streaming platforms that included a payment function, micro-donation websites and internet wallet addresses for cryptocurrencies such as monero that are designed to avoid detection.

A Telegram channel associated with National Socialist Network leader Tom Sewell has recently encouraged followers to donate through largely untraceable online cryptocurrency platforms to support his legal case.

On a live Telegram chat on August 7, Jacob Hersant, the second in charge of the network, boasted about reading the Christchurch terrorist’s manifesto.

Ms Bogle said Telegram – along with platforms like Gab, VK and Element – was facilitating funding requests by extremists, and some online financial…

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