Level Seven
Encyclopedia
The Level Seven Crew, also known as Level Seven, Level 7 or L7, was a hacking group during the mid to late 90's. Eventually dispersing in early 2000 when nominal head 'vent' was raided by the FBI on February 25, 2000.
’s novel, The Inferno. The group called themselves Level Seven after the seventh level of hell, the violent.
Contained in some of the group’s web defacements, was the quote: "il livello sette posidare la vostra famiglia", which loosely translated from Italian
says, "Level Seven owns your family".
The group, spent most of their time on IRC - in the EFnet
channel #LevelSeven discussing security, or the lack thereof. The group was also associated with other high-profile hacking groups such as, Global Hell (gH)
and Hacking for Girliez (HFG).
, The Federal Geographic Data Committee, NASA
and Sheraton Hotels
.
Level Seven is also credited with being the first group to hack a .ma
domain and server located in Morocco
. The server was owned by the Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Marrakech
However, the group is most widely known for the September 7, 1999 defacement of (The US Embassy in China's Website), in regards to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings.
Level Seven typify a breed of hackers who exploit or attack computers and networks for more than just the thrill and challenge, and for reasons other than money. They were activists, and they used their computer skills to make political statements and protest actions by government and industry. Thus, they bridged the realms of hacking and activism
, operating in a domain that is now called "hacktivism
".
Origins
Thought to have been derived from Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
’s novel, The Inferno. The group called themselves Level Seven after the seventh level of hell, the violent.
Contained in some of the group’s web defacements, was the quote: "il livello sette posidare la vostra famiglia", which loosely translated from Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
says, "Level Seven owns your family".
The group, spent most of their time on IRC - in the EFnet
EFnet
EFnet or Eris Free network is a major IRC network, with more than 35,000 users. It is the modern-day descendant of the original IRC network.- History :...
channel #LevelSeven discussing security, or the lack thereof. The group was also associated with other high-profile hacking groups such as, Global Hell (gH)
Globalhell
globalHell was a group of hackers, composed of about 60 individuals. The group disbanded in 1999, when 12 members were prosecuted for computer intrusion and 30 for lesser offences...
and Hacking for Girliez (HFG).
Notability
The hacking group was noted in Attrition's Top 20 most active group's of all time by claiming responsibility for over 60 unauthorized penetrations of computer systems in 1999 alone, including The First American National BankFirst American National Bank
First American National Bank was a subsidiary of First American National Corporation, a financial institution based in Nashville, Tennessee that served the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Virginia...
, The Federal Geographic Data Committee, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and Sheraton Hotels
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide's largest and second oldest brand . Starwood's headquarters are in White Plains, New York.-Sheraton history:...
.
Level Seven is also credited with being the first group to hack a .ma
.ma
.ma is the Internet country code top-level domain for Morocco. A local registrar with a local Moroccan company as administrative contact is needed to register an .ma or .co.ma domain name...
domain and server located in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
. The server was owned by the Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Marrakech
However, the group is most widely known for the September 7, 1999 defacement of (The US Embassy in China's Website), in regards to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings.
Level Seven typify a breed of hackers who exploit or attack computers and networks for more than just the thrill and challenge, and for reasons other than money. They were activists, and they used their computer skills to make political statements and protest actions by government and industry. Thus, they bridged the realms of hacking and activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
, operating in a domain that is now called "hacktivism
Hacktivism
Hacktivism is the use of computers and computer networks as a means of protest to promote political ends. The term was first coined in 1994 by a member of the Cult of the Dead Cow hacker collective named Omega...
".
Quotations
"I would be inclined to think that normal hackers would not be able to break into something like the US embassy. The security measures they use are very, very different to those protecting a commercial Web server."
- Ian Jonsten-Bryden (British government security expert of Oceanus Security in Suffolk)
"We embrace technology, we learn from it, we use it, and we exploit it. Technology is a very powerful tool, as is knowledge, but some people go beyond these boundaries, testing limits, finding new ways and ideas... we call these people hackers, and we are one of many.."
- vent, September 1999