Hacktivism: The Cult of the Dead Cow

What is the Cult of the Dead Cow? 

The Cult of the Dead Cow, founded in 1984, started as a group of like-minded hackers looking to improve their skills. As the group developed, they pivoted towards movements that would later be known as hacktivism, but it wasn’t until 1996 when a cDc member coined the term in an email to the group. 

Origins 

The group was established at the abandoned Farm Pac slaughterhouse, located in Texas, by three main members, Franken Gibe, Sid Vicious, and Grandmaster Ratte’. Their seemingly strange name took inspiration from their first meeting spot at the slaughterhouse. Their goal at the time was to create a space in which hackers could share tools, tips, and other information for the betterment of the groups’ skills. The Cult of the Dead Cow is known as one of the oldest hacking groups and one of the first to participate in their own interpretation of hacktivism. 

Branches  

As the group grew, they developed levels to the organization. The Cult of the Dead Cow is a hacking group while cDc communications is their parent organization. In 1996 the Ninja Strike Force was announced. This group was in charge of carrying out tasks that aligned with the cDc’s goals. Later in 1999 Hacktivismo was formed. They are an independent group under the cDc that specializes in fighting censorship and advocates for human rights through the internet. Even as the community of hackers grew, the cDc continued to present tools at Defcon and work with other hacking groups to develop new programs. 

Tools 

The cDc has released many tools in their time, some specifically for hackers, others for everyday administration. Most notably was their release of Back Orifice, a program for remote system administration. Essentially it allowed users to control a Microsoft BackOffice Server remotely. The initial release happened at the 1998 Defcon 6 and a similar but improved version was debuted at the 1999 Defcon 7. In 2002 Hacktivismo released a tool they called Camera/Shy which searched the web for encrypted data, decrypted it, and delivered it to users in the form of GIF files. In 2000 the cDc released their first hacking specific tool called NBName which helps carry out denial-of-service attacks. It worked to disable NetBIOS services which provided services to Windows machines. ScatterChat was an encrypted instant messaging system released in 2006, a unique advancement for the group and the first program of its kind. To further their work in anti-censorship the group released the Six/Four System which was a network proxy that worked to send encrypted links to ‘trusted peers’ without fear of being censored.  

Hacks 

The groups’ name isn’t the strangest thing about them, in fact they garnered a lot of attention for some of the things they claim responsibility for. Arguably the most bizarre being the claim that they are responsible for giving Ronald Reagan Alzheimer’s disease via blow dart. Of course, this can’t be confirmed but the cDc has completed some more believable hacks in their time. In the 90s the cDc seemed to be working with a hacktivist group from China called ‘The Hong Kong Blondes’. Their common goal was to create programs that helped user evade the censorship in China’s internet space. However, in 2015 Oxblood Ruffin, a former member of cDc, claimed that these activists were just a diversion so the group could extract several pro-democracy activists form China. There is no evidence for this however, the group still claims that the simply made up their connection with the Hong Kong Blondes as a cover.  

In 2006 the group was back to fighting Chinese censorship policies when Google decided to comply with China’s internet policies for the Chinese version of the search engine. They ran a campaign against Google by making anti-censorship merchandise and using the proceeds to donate to Human Rights in China activism groups. 

In 1995 the group publicly declared war on the Church of Scientology after a string a controversy was revealed in association with the church. They believed that El Ron Hubbard, the leader of Scientology, was actually Heinrich Himmler who was a leading member of the Nazi party. They also believed that he was working to ‘steal babies from hospitals’ and raise them as ‘super-soldiers’. The group believed that the Church of Scientology was a cover-up for his greater plan to overthrow the U.S. government. 

Notable Members 

Some notable members of the cDc include Jesse Dryden who is the son of Spencer Dryden the drummer for Jefferson Airplane and grandnephew of Charlie Chaplin. Dryden created HoHoCon during his time with the group which was one of the first hacker conferences. Beto O’Rourke, former Texas congressman, admitted to being a part of the group during his teen years. This information came out during his run for presidency in 2020 and O’Rourke was perfectly fine confirming his involvement with the group and expressed that he never took part in the ‘edgier side of hacking’. 

Where are they now? 

The Cult of the Dead Cow is still active today on various social media platforms and through their website. Their focuses are still set on anti-censorship and human rights, however in recent years we haven't heard much in regards to hacking. Now they primarily focus on informing the public about internet security issues and ways to further their anti-censorship and human rights efforts.