Rotten Library > Culture > Cult of the Dead Cow

Cult of the Dead Cow

What began as a loose affiliation of BBS sysops in the mid-1980s somehow or other became the world's most famous hacking group by the close of the 20th century. Impugned by the likes of Uri Geller and Slobodan Milosevic.

Known for its media savvy and hilarious braggadocio, the Cult surprised computer security experts in August 1998 by releasing Back Orifice, which the cDc described as a remote administration tool for Microsoft Windows 95 and 98.

International hacker organization.
Declared war on the Church of Scientology.
Mudge met with Bill Clinton at the White House cabinet room.
Hacktivismo and Red China, working with the Hong Kong Blondes to defeat the enemies of freedom.
Claims to have given Ronald Reagan his Alzheimer's.
Released Back Orifice and BO2K targeting Microsoft insecurity.
A subject of testimony in Slobodan Milosevic's War Crimes tribunal.
Condemned by both Geraldo Rivera and Uri Geller.
Once shared a stage with Jello Biafra.

Timeline

`Jul 1986`	Remaining members of Pan-Galactic Entropy rename themselves the Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc).
`18 Dec 1992`	HoHoCon at the Allen Park Inn in Houston, Texas.
`Dec 1993`	HoHoCon in Austin, Texas.
`Sep 1994`	Creation of the UseNet group `alt.fan.cult-dead-cow`
`5 Nov 1994`	The Cult of the Dead Cow claims credit for afflicting Ronald Reagan with Alzheimer's disease in 1986, using a blowgun dart dipped in Iocaine poison.
`3 Aug 1998`	The Cult of the Dead Cow releases Back Orifice.
`10 Aug 1998`	The Cult of the Dead Cow issues Cult of the Dead Cow responds to Microsoft about Back Orifice: "Back Orifice is a Rorschach for Microsoft credibility. Microsoft's own official response to us was issued as a marketing bulletin! Does anybody else besides cDc find it disturbing that the Marketing Department is running the show over there?"
`21 Oct 1998`	Uri Geller Computer Active Weekly "This BO Thing Stinks."
`7 Jan 1999`	The Cult of the Dead Cow jointly issues a statement with other international hacking groups to disavow the practice of infowar. The press release is issued by 2600, the Chaos Computer Club, !Hispahack, L0pht Heavy Industries, Phrack, and Pulhas.
`15 Feb 2000`	During a White House conference on Internet security, Mudge becomes the first cDc member ever to brief the President of the United States.
`4 Jul 2001`	The cDc issues The Hacktivismo Declaration, announcing its opposition to state-imposed Internet censorship.
`26 Nov 2001`	In the wake of 9-11, the cDc issues a press release offering to build an undetectable surveillance tool for the FBI.
`14 Mar 2002`	During his trial at the International War Crimes Tribunal, Slobodan Milosevic questions Dr. Patrick Ball about his relationship with the hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow, based on a speech Dr. Ball gave in 2001.

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