The Jester (hacktivist)
Encyclopedia
The Jester is a computer vigilante
who describes himself as gray hat "hacktivist." He or she claims to be responsible for attacks on WikiLeaks
, 4chan
, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Islamist websites. He claims to be acting out of American patriotism. The Jester developed and uses the denial-of-service (DoS) tool known as "XerXeS". One of The Jester's habits is to tweet "TANGO DOWN" on Twitter
whenever he successfully takes down a website.
and elsewhere. A former defense operative claimed that The Jester was a former military contractor involved in US Special Operations Command
projects.
The Jester claims to have originally developed his DoS script as a means to test and harden servers. After learning from an article that Jihadists were using the Internet to recruit and coordinate terror cells, The Jester resolved to disrupting online communications between Jihadists. He weaponized his script and created a front-end known as "XerXeS" in order to solve the script's usability problems.
On November 28, 2010, The Jester posted several tweets claiming to be responsible for the downtime WikiLeaks was experiencing. He justified his alleged attacks by claiming that WikiLeaks was "attempting to endanger the lives of our [US] troops, 'other assets' & foreign relations." In retaliation to The Jester's reported efforts hacktivists including a group named Anonymous
in support of WikiLeaks were reported as temporarily disrupting the website of MasterCard as well as attacking websites of Amazon and Paypal.
On November 29, 2010, someone claiming to be The Jester stated that he had been raided by the U.S. and attempted to solicit money for legal fees. A Twitter account claiming to be The Jester @th3j35t3r purports that the scam was run by a pretender. The website it was made on redirected to The Jester's Wordpress blog leading to the speculation that The Jester was involved. How much money was taken through this fraud has not been disclosed.
On December 28, 2010, a DoS attack targeted 4chan.org. On that same day, The Jester tweeted "4chan.org — that looks like a TANGO DOWN (not) maybe you guys pissed off the wrong person trying to (wrongly) ID me?" This tweet is believed to be a reference to 4chan's claims that The Jester was a man from Montana
.
On February 21, 2011, The Jester began a DoS attack on several sites belonging to the Westboro Baptist Church
for allegedly celebrating the death of homosexual U.S. service men.
In June 2011 The Jester vowed to find and expose members of LulzSec
. He has attempted to obtain and publish the real world personally identifiable information
of key members, whom he describes as "childish". On June 24, 2011, he claimed to have revealed the identity of LulzSec leader Sabu as Xavier Kaotico, an information technology consultant
possibly from New York City
. in July of the same year he falsely accused Hugo Carvlho, a Portuguese IT professional, of also being Sabu, leaving the Jester's outing claims to be considered "suspect."
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
who describes himself as gray hat "hacktivist." He or she claims to be responsible for attacks on WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, 4chan
4chan
4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime...
, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Islamist websites. He claims to be acting out of American patriotism. The Jester developed and uses the denial-of-service (DoS) tool known as "XerXeS". One of The Jester's habits is to tweet "TANGO DOWN" on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
whenever he successfully takes down a website.
Military service
The Jester had stated that he was a former soldier and had served in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and elsewhere. A former defense operative claimed that The Jester was a former military contractor involved in US Special Operations Command
United States Special Operations Command
The United States Special Operations Command is the Unified Combatant Command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations Commands of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps of the United States Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense...
projects.
The Jester claims to have originally developed his DoS script as a means to test and harden servers. After learning from an article that Jihadists were using the Internet to recruit and coordinate terror cells, The Jester resolved to disrupting online communications between Jihadists. He weaponized his script and created a front-end known as "XerXeS" in order to solve the script's usability problems.
Hacking history
On January 1, 2010, The Jester began a campaign against Jihadist websites. His first target was alemarah.info, which was the Taliban's website at the time.On November 28, 2010, The Jester posted several tweets claiming to be responsible for the downtime WikiLeaks was experiencing. He justified his alleged attacks by claiming that WikiLeaks was "attempting to endanger the lives of our [US] troops, 'other assets' & foreign relations." In retaliation to The Jester's reported efforts hacktivists including a group named Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
in support of WikiLeaks were reported as temporarily disrupting the website of MasterCard as well as attacking websites of Amazon and Paypal.
On November 29, 2010, someone claiming to be The Jester stated that he had been raided by the U.S. and attempted to solicit money for legal fees. A Twitter account claiming to be The Jester @th3j35t3r purports that the scam was run by a pretender. The website it was made on redirected to The Jester's Wordpress blog leading to the speculation that The Jester was involved. How much money was taken through this fraud has not been disclosed.
On December 28, 2010, a DoS attack targeted 4chan.org. On that same day, The Jester tweeted "4chan.org — that looks like a TANGO DOWN (not) maybe you guys pissed off the wrong person trying to (wrongly) ID me?" This tweet is believed to be a reference to 4chan's claims that The Jester was a man from Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
.
On February 21, 2011, The Jester began a DoS attack on several sites belonging to the Westboro Baptist Church
Westboro Baptist Church
The Westboro Baptist Church is an independent Baptist church known for its extreme stance against homosexuality and its protest activities, which include picketing funerals and desecrating the American flag. The church is widely described as a hate group and is monitored as such by the...
for allegedly celebrating the death of homosexual U.S. service men.
In June 2011 The Jester vowed to find and expose members of LulzSec
LulzSec
Lulz Security, commonly abbreviated as LulzSec, is a computer hacker group that claims responsibility for several high profile attacks, including the compromise of user accounts from Sony Pictures in 2011. The group also claimed responsibility for taking the CIA website offline...
. He has attempted to obtain and publish the real world personally identifiable information
Personally identifiable information
Personally Identifiable Information , as used in information security, is information that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate a single person or can be used with other sources to uniquely identify a single individual...
of key members, whom he describes as "childish". On June 24, 2011, he claimed to have revealed the identity of LulzSec leader Sabu as Xavier Kaotico, an information technology consultant
Information technology consulting
Information technology consulting is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use information technology to meet their business objectives...
possibly from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. in July of the same year he falsely accused Hugo Carvlho, a Portuguese IT professional, of also being Sabu, leaving the Jester's outing claims to be considered "suspect."
External links
- Jester's Court – The Jester's blog