In a more recent string of cyber pranks, a hacker(s) under the pseudonym “Pyknic” targeted several sites, most notably, the media giant nbc.com. It was assumed by many that this was in connection to the hackivist collective “anonymous”, since the hacks took place on November 4th of this year, just before Guy Fawkes Day. However, various anon sources disregard any association with Pyknic’s hacks.
The NBC site was defaced with a static message from the hacker(s) stating the following:
“REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, THE GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT. I KNOW OF NO REASON WHY THE GUNPOWDER TREASON SHOULD EVER BE FORGOT. REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, THE GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT. I KNOW OF NO REASON WHY THE GUNPOWDER TREASON SHOULD EVER BE FORGOT. REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, THE GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT. I KNOW OF NO REASON WHY THE GUNPOWDER TREASON SHOULD EVER BE FORGOT. REMEMBER, REMEMBER THE FIFTH OF NOVEMBER, THE GUNPOWDER TREASON AND PLOT. I KNOW OF NO REASON WHY THE GUNPOWDER TREASON SHOULD EVER BE FORGOT.
GREETZ TO ODAY, BRUT4L & S4VAGE
F*** THE FEDS, 419 IS JUST A GAME~~
USER INFO – EXPOSED
PASSWORDS – DUMPED”
Other targeted sites included Lady Gaga’s fan club Gaga Daily, and an Australian Pizza Hut site, where the hacker(s) claimed to obtain a mass quantity of credit card numbers from its customer database. A spokesperson of Pizza Hut has stated that no credit card information was stolen (gizmodo.com.au).
What will Pyknic’s next target be? The line “419 is just a game” intrigued me. 419 is actually a reference to Nigerian scams. Are these fraudsters getting their feet wet using new tools of the trade? There really seems to be no motive behind the pranks. It appears to be more like script kiddies getting a kick out of vandalizing random websites.
In any event, I’ve got my snacks ready for this “Pyknic”.
Popcorn?