Who Are The Guys Behind Lizard Squad?
Malaysians first heard about "Lizard Squad - Official Cyber Caliphate" after the hackers group attacked the official website of MAS. The same group now claims to have brought Facebook and Instagram down. In our 32nd Tech Tuesday column, SAYS columnist Sadho looks into the history behind the group.
By Sadho Ram — 27 Jan 2015, 03:47 PM — Updated almost 10 years ago
On 26 January 2015, the Malaysia Airlines website was defaced by hackers who referenced the Islamic State Jihadists and claimed to be from the "Lizard Squad," a shady hackers group known for their previous 'Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)' attacks
While Malaysia Airlines claimed that its passenger user data remained secure despite the attack on its domain, Lizard Squad leaked a list of flight bookings online, including one believed to be for federal minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
The group even tweeted that MAS is lying about user data not compromised.
[MEDIA STATEMENT]: We would like to point out that @MAS is lying about user data not being compromised. Refer to earlier imgur link.
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) January 26, 2015
They now say they are behind hacks on Facebook and Instagram including Tinder, AIM and Hipchat. But who are Lizard Squad?
Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, AIM, Hipchat #offline #LizardSquad
— Lizard Squad (@LizardMafia) January 27, 2015
However, a Facebook spokeswoman told BBC its own engineers had caused the problem, downplaying claims by Lizard Squad
"Earlier this evening many people had trouble accessing Facebook and Instagram," a spokeswoman told the BBC.
"This was not the result of a third-party attack but instead occurred after we introduced a change that affected our configuration systems. We moved quickly to fix the problem, and both services are back to 100% for everyone."
An informal hacker collective, Lizard Squad has been described as "vocal, taunting and a bit obnoxious" by media sites. The shady group has a history of DDoS attacks that appear driven by a desire for mayhem for the sake of mayhem, notes Max Fisher of Vox.
In an interview with individuals claiming to be members of the group, the tech news site WinBeta reported that Lizard Squad aims to force companies to improve their security by disrupting gaming networks for a short period of time. Lizard Squad targeted Microsoft and Sony on Christmas because “they felt it would anger and reach the largest amount of people,” according to WinBeta. The group considered hacking other companies, such as Nintendo, but decided against taking action.
Lizard Squad also told WinBeta that of the two companies, Microsoft was easier to hack into, and they described the company’s security as “almost nothing.”
The attacks on Sony and Microsoft occurred on Christmas Day, disrupting many users just as they received new consoles and games.
In August, the same group appeared to claim responsibility for attacking Sony’s PlayStation Network and interrupted the travel plans of the president of Sony Online Entertainment, by tweeting that there may be explosives on his American Airlines plane.
bostonglobe.com
They regularly retweet guesses about the identities behind their Twitter account. They scream Reddit memes. But most bizarrely, they promote ISIS and links to 9/11 videos, notes The Daily Dot.
Back in September 2014, the group took to Twitter and their own website to announce that they were slinking away into the shadows, saying authorities were arresting their various reptilian members. Here's what were supposed to be their parting words:
"Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape."
We set out on our journey 2 weeks ago with the plan to cause havoc within the gaming community. Our motives varied throughout this adventure. Originally it was to see if we could evade being caught and to experience the raw thrill of anarchy, not being bound to phony laws. We've been called everything from an organized criminal "gang" to complete assholes, really we are just a bunch of guys with too much free time. Throughout our journey we met new people, gained new members, learned new things. People tried taking swings at us (and missed). We proved that even though we are little in this very big world, that a small group of friends who work together can cause a lot of havoc without legal repercussions. Today we will be disbanding, behind the green reptiles and other bullshit, we have lives believe it or not, things to do, people to meet. Goodbye.
- dragon
- Komodo
- ryan
- sp3c
- abdilo
- Chameleon
- Vagineer
- Gecko
PS: chF was never apart of LizardSquad, just a friend.
But despite disbanding, Lizard Squad was soon back to their old tricks. The group does not appear to have a specific agenda other than simple annoyance, notes Forbes contributor Paul Tassi.
Video game companies hate them for the constant attacks. Video game fans hate them for knocking their favorite games offline and making them impossible to play. Other hackers hate them for not being “true” hackers, resorting only to DDoS attacks rather than anything more in-depth and involved.
forbes.comLizard Squad's notable actions include:
Server outages of the games GTA 5, Destiny, Doda, League of Legends, Call of Duty, and Runescape, among others.
Microsoft’s XBox Live and Sony’s Playstation Network have been attacked multiple times, as has Twitch.tv, along with various streamers on the site.
Starting 2015, they attacked the website of Malaysia Airlines and a day after, on 27 January, several social media services including Facebook and Instagram were unavailable to users. Lizard Squad claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In recent times, teenagers have sent Lizard Squad fan art while others have tweeted pictures with "Lizard Squad" written on their forehead, or just photos of themselves admitting to being overpowered by the shady group, the CS Monitor reported
.@LizardSquad HEAR MY PLEA. UNDO YOUR WRATH ON TWITCH AND LET THE FIENDS WATCH. I HAVE SACRIFICED MY 5HEAD FOR YOU. pic.twitter.com/felttPPGkj
— Sky Williams (@SkyWilliamsTho) August 27, 2014
@LizardSquad #KillMeSquad pic.twitter.com/Wro2NkWwgL
— ROTTING IN THE HEAT (@maxmoefoe) August 27, 2014
Meanwhile, reportedly revealing two of Lizard Squad member's identity, Krebs on Security claimed that one of them appears to be a 22-year-old from the UK named Vinnie Omari, and other is a Finnish teenager named Julius Kivimäki. He is 16 years old.
Both of these individuals may in fact be guilty of nothing more than taking credit for other peoples' crimes. But, notes Krebs on Security, that the Lizard Squad, a group of fake-seeking kids, is not some sophisticated hacker group.
On 26 December 2014, BBC Radio aired an interview with both the teen hackers. They were referred to in the interview only as "Member 1" and "Member 2". You can hear the full interview here: