The Bedroom
It was dark, apart from the glow of an LCD TV and lights from an Alienware gaming computer on a white Ikea table. The fact that this person had a high-end gaming machine hooked up to a 40 inch TV didn't bother me too much. What I was interested in though, was on the wall opposite his computer; a collage of newspaper articles, pictures, diagrams and maps. From where I was standing, it looked like a conspiracy theorist's bulletin board, complete with circles, scribbles, and question marks. It did not make any sense.
I was still staring at the wall when he told me to sit anywhere, so I chose the bed. As I sat, I snapped a picture using a D-SLR camera that I brought with me. it was either he did not notice, or he did not mind. So I kept quite.
I continued to look around the room, and at that very moment, it finally sank in. I have actually managed to track down a real hacker.
The Story
So how did I end up in the bedroom of a hacker? To explain that, we need to go back more than a year. June 15th, 2011 to be exact. I bet if I asked random people on the street if they remembered what they were doing on that day, most wouldn't be able to recall. Or some might just remember it as a normal day, where they go to work, attend classes in college, or did house chores.
It was pretty much the same for me. It was a Wednesday, and I was frantically trying to finish up an assignment for my Media Law and Ethics class. The topic of the assignment had me doing research on the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission. So I typed in 'skmm.gov.my' into my internet browser, expecting to be greeted by the standard boring layout of a government website. Instead, I was presented with something totally different and unexpected.
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| Operation Malaysia is claimed to be organized by Anonymous |
This clearly is not the website of the Malaysian Multimedia Commission, I thought, as I realize that this is clearly the work of hackers.
I sat there in front of my laptop, annoyed that someone had hacked the website I needed to finish my assignment, but at the same time I was also impressed by it. So I took a screen-cap of the hacked website. The next day, the Internet and newspapers were buzzing about 41 government websites being 'compromised' by hackers, and life went on as usual, and the picture was forgotten...
Until two weeks ago. While looking through my laptop I had rediscovered it and upon closer inspection I realized that the picture had an e-mail, "xNJx@hackermail.com". From the picture I also used my excellent deduction skills to figure out that this "xNJx" group are also Malaysians.
I needed to find out who these guys are.
But then something else dawned on me. How am I supposed to track down people that do not want to be found? The first thing I did was actually find out if "hackermail" is an actual e-mail host. And Google helped me to confirm that it is, surprisingly, a real e-mail account. The second thing I did, was figure out how do I go about arranging an interview with a hacker. Do I take the journalistically ethical approach of being honest and tell them I am conducting this interview for a college assignment? Or do I make up an elaborate story of how I am an intern from a certain tech magazine and I was writing a feature article on Internet Freedom and Hacktivism?
Regardless of my method, I was adamant to make dialogue with these people, and I got a simple and brief reply.
"Hi. The xNJx is dead. I was a former member. I want to help you write your story but I need to make sure you can be trusted. Check your Facebook."
The moment I read that, my heart stopped for a second in realization of what I had done. In the midst of my excitement I had forgotten who these people were; they were hackers. I had used my personal e-mail to contact the people that had somehow replaced a government website with a YouTube video. All they had to do was google my name. They probably knew everything about me at that point. Thinking that I had 'blown my cover', I checked my Facebook and noticed that I had a friend request. "Captain Sparklez" has added me. He had no display picture, and no other friends. I clicked confirm.
"Facebook will probably delete this account in a few hours." He sent a message to me a few seconds after I had accepted his friend request. I said hello and thanked him for adding me. He did not say hello or you're welcome, but instead he added; "This isn't safe. Come over to my place if you want your interview."
Before I could reply he sent me a link to a google maps page, followed by "I'm nearby."
I clicked the link to find out that he was indeed nearby, the apartment building was about 10 minutes by car to be precise. It was only later that I realized he actually found out where I live, but that is beside the point. Trying to sound cool and journalist-like I replied with a simple "When?"
"Now. I'll be waiting at the guard house. Don't waste my time." He replied and went offline right after.
The Interview
Back in the bedroom, I was still staring at the bizarre collection of stuff stuck to the wall. The hacker broke the silence by offering me something to drink, which I politely decline. I asked him how he would like to be addressed as he has not told me his name or even his hacker handle yet.
"Captain Sparklez." He said plainly. I tried not to smirk, while I scribble it on my notebook.
"So are we doing this? Are you going to take pictures?" Captain Sparklez asked as he gestured toward my camera. I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I took a few pictures. Instead of answering, he stood up, turned on a table lamp, and grabbed a "Guy Fawkes" mask from on top of his dresser and wore it with his hoodie up. "No, I don't mind." He said as he sat back on his desk chair.
"I am a hacker."
"I do things with a computer and an internet connection. Things that others aren't willing to do."
"I've been doing this since I was 13, and I am 21 now."
I asked him if 'Operation Malaysia' was one of those things.
"Operation Malaysia was just the tip of the Iceberg." He answered.
"I've hacked websites from all around the world, stolen credit card information, and turned thousands of stranger's computers into 'little zombie minions' that do my bidding."
"All the bad stuff hackers do, I've done it" he added while chuckling.
My next question was a more serious one; I probed into why he does it.
"When you are a hacker you have to choose sides. Some people label it, like 'black hat', 'white hat', or 'grey hat'. The way I see it, hackers have to stand for something. If you do things just for destructive purposes then you are just criminals and you deserve what ever that's coming for you."
"I try to balance out all the bad stuff that I do with things like 'Operation Malaysia', where my actions are part of something bigger. So in some ways you can say that I'm a 'grey hat'. I like to call myself, a 'chaotic neutral'.
"I did it to send a message. I did it to feel that I belong. That I belong to a group of people that can do something to impact our world. And we did it the only way we know how, which is hacking."
I then asked him to talk about 'xNJx', hacktivism and the whole Anonymous movement.
"No Joke, was a hacker group that I was a part of. It is disbanded now. It was basically a collective of ten hackers, five of which are Malaysians, and the other 5 were international hackers."
"The reason we disbanded was because of some internal conflicts. Some of us disagreed upon the direction the group was heading towards."
"Like I said, hackers are nothing but criminals if all they do is for personal gains. Anonymous gives us that 'something bigger' that I was talking about. See, the beauty of Anonymous is that it is everyone, and at the same time, it is no one. I am a part of Anonymous, and if I take off this mask and give it to you to wear it, you can be Anonymous. Your 15 year old kid neighbor can be Anonymous. Your brother, your sister, even your dad can be Anonymous."
I nodded in agreement, and I took another glance at the wall with all the things stuck to it. "You're probably wondering what all that is about, right?" Captain Sparklez said as I turn back to face him.
He turned to look towards the wall and added; "It's just something I've been working on. You will probably think I'm really paranoid but all those things on the wall are connected. Lets just say it has to do with certain 'secret societies' and a global conspiracy. But I don't think there's anything concrete."
"I think it's funny that the only thing people know about hackers is from a movie. The fact is, we are normal people. We are a part of society" he said with an earnest tone in his voice.
He took his mask off and I took it as a sign that the Interview is over. After lighting a cigarette he turned to his computer and clicked his iTunes to put on a song.
"Thanks for coming over" he mentioned. I said you're welcome and that I appreciate him taking the time to talk to me. He sent me to the elevator and I went on my way.
Captain Sparklez gave me his interpretation of what its like to be a hacker in this modern world, and that hackers are not all bad people, although some are. He gave me different perspective toward hacktivism and Anonymous. An inside look toward an otherwise shady and underground world.
Talking to Captain Sparklez made me realize that hackers are people too and that they are part of our society with their own morals, ethics, ideologies and most importantly, a story to tell.
Copyright Zahir Zamani, 2012.
