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+---- Thread: Is clearnet hacking dead? (/showthread.php?tid=6249261)
Is clearnet hacking dead? - Malwhere? - Aug 14, 2023
I have been in the scene a fair while and have noticed in recent years the removal of many popular sites, and the ones that still exist, such as HF are heavily watered down from what they once where, with verified fed accounts that comment on threads - crazy.
Seems the police worldwide are cracking down on easy targets to make it look like they are doing something to fight against the increase in cyber threats when in actuality they are not even scratching the surface.
I had to endure 9 months of police interviews and nearly had my career ruined (as I work in Education and cannot have a criminal record) over RAT'ing paedophiles 8 years ago.
It was on the news recently that users of popular stressor sites will be tracked down now too, when it's 99% kids booting enemies off games?!
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - BiNBo - Aug 14, 2023
In my opinion, I'd say it's alive and well, just the medium has changed. In years past, message boards were the place to be if you wanted a community that was active and informative. Posts on sites like these were where you learned and accessed a ton of resources. However, with tools such as Discord and Telegram (just a couple mainstream examples), you'll find that the classic message boards are a husk of what they once were activity wise. Everyone these days is working off these newer systems that speed up communication and sharing processes. I'd say HF is one of the last standing bastions of hacking message boards, but lets face it the prime years have come and gone.
Still, if you're active around this site enough to be known, I'd say go ahead and assume you're on a list somewhere. Maybe not a come knock on your door to visit you list, but a list of flagged aliases, individuals, etc. who could potentially escalate themselves up on a higher tier threat list down the line. Also very dependent on where you live though. China has one of the most notorious surveillance programs in the world, and it's incredibly famous for it's size and granularized nature. However, you'd be a fool to assume that most governments and their respective agencies don't have very similar programs at home.
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - Fresku - Aug 14, 2023
If you dare to engage in blackhat activities, keep re-evaluating your opsec.
Even if your target is pedophiles.
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - Malwhere? - Aug 14, 2023
(Aug 14, 2023 09:59 AM)Fresku Wrote: If you dare to engage in blackhat activities, keep re-evaluating your opsec.
Even if your target is pedophiles.
Something not at the forefront of my mind 10+ years ago unfortunately, it felt much more lawless back then and that you were pretty much untouchable, not the case of course.
I had my house raided and all my old drives and laptops I had used since I was a child was taken, I had no idea what they would find.
I have learnt a lot from the experience though.
(Aug 14, 2023 09:50 AM)BiNBo Wrote: In my opinion, I'd say it's alive and well, just the medium has changed. In years past, message boards were the place to be if you wanted a community that was active and informative. Posts on sites like these were where you learned and accessed a ton of resources. However, with tools such as Discord and Telegram (just a couple mainstream examples), you'll find that the classic message boards are a husk of what they once were activity wise. Everyone these days is working off these newer systems that speed up communication and sharing processes. I'd say HF is one of the last standing bastions of hacking message boards, but lets face it the prime years have come and gone.
Still, if you're active around this site enough to be known, I'd say go ahead and assume you're on a list somewhere. Maybe not a come knock on your door to visit you list, but a list of flagged aliases, individuals, etc. who could potentially escalate themselves up on a higher tier threat list down the line. Also very dependent on where you live though. China has one of the most notorious surveillance programs in the world, and it's incredibly famous for it's size and granularized nature. However, you'd be a fool to assume that most governments and their respective agencies don't have very similar programs at home.
Yeah Discord/Telegram has definitely changed the landscape, forums are for boomers now etc.
The main reason HF is still standing after all these years is because they quickly adapt to distance themselves from blackhat activity that comes into the spotlight, such as warez/DDoS etc. Looks like install shops are gone too?
With the emerging AI technologies, I think the landscape is going to change once more. We will have malicious AI vs defensive AI battling it out! Microsoft Security Copilot is already implementing this now, using their AI to detect an attackers next steps.
It's interesting nonetheless.
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - Malwhere? - Aug 14, 2023
(Aug 14, 2023 12:19 PM)phantomman55 Wrote: dang why did your house get raided?
RAT developer got arrested and he gave all of his customers up, was a worldwide operation - I no longer had the RAT installed on my PC.. but they found other RATs and lots and lots of logs.
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - iiFinance - Aug 15, 2023
Def not the same as the 2009-2012 era. that was the golden age.
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - GruntStyl - Aug 15, 2023
(Aug 14, 2023 03:32 PM)phantomman55 Wrote: what did they do? was it scary? Did they knock first?
If I got raided I would be shitting bricks... lol I would tell them let me see the search warrant then tell them they have the wrong house.
I would point it in the wrong direction... that house is over there.
lol
I busted out laughing at the "did they knock first?" 🤣. There's been quite a few RAT developers on this forum that have gotten busted, rightfully so in my opinion.
RE: Is clearnet hacking dead? - Malwhere? - Aug 15, 2023
(Aug 14, 2023 03:32 PM)phantomman55 Wrote: what did they do? was it scary? Did they knock first?
If I got raided I would be shitting bricks... lol I would tell them let me see the search warrant then tell them they have the wrong house.
I would point it in the wrong direction... that house is over there.
lol
Yeah it was pretty scary, especially since I had been out of the scene for a while, I thought it might have been an old enemy swatting me or something.
They tracked my daily schedule on ANPR traffic cameras to make sure I wouldn't be in, and turned off my internet before allowing my parents to contact me.
They had the warrant for 3 months before, and they even said they had armed police around the corner on standby, not sure if that was true or not.
(Aug 15, 2023 06:49 AM)GruntStyl Wrote: I busted out laughing at the "did they knock first?" 🤣. There's been quite a few RAT developers on this forum that have gotten busted, rightfully so in my opinion.
Yeah, I agree with you. I was just a dumb kid trying to dish out vigilante justice, but I accomplished nothing really other than potentially ruin my career.
We have to leave it to third world countries now where their governments still don't care.