The Jester - International Hacktivist

Picture of a Jester

Here is an interesting article about international hacking

Recently we have witnessed the emergence of international hactivist and vigilante The Jester through his crusade against jihadi and militant Islamic networks, and some third party networks that contain evidence of having been infiltrated by rogue elements.


Jester’s activities raise an important question: Where do cyber vigilantes fall on the ethics spectrum?

That is the issue on the one hand, he is acting against some very unsympathetic targets, But on the other hand, he is employing what would be considered Black Hat tactics which violate multiple international and domestic laws, as well as possibly interfering with covert intelligence operations.

the Jester seems to be a sincere, impassioned individual who genuinely believes his efforts are noble and justified by the barbarism of the terrorist tactics he witnessed as a soldier.

Jester also claims to be sharing the location of secret deposits of information he has found planted on legitimate sites in the US, unbeknownst to the site owners, by jihadi hackers.

Some of these hidden files contain information on everything from how to produce an improvised explosive device (IED) to long anti-western rants said to possibly have phrasing combinations used to prompt sleeper cells into action.

The unique methods the Jester is using could more than theoretically be employed by our foes to wreak havoc on our own systems, and so there may be much to learn from this character that can be employed for our own best defenses.

The Jester says he targets’ known sites that recruit and co-ordinate attacks.

The Jester only disrupts, not destroys and believes By taking them down at random intervals, for random intervals, they can’t rely on them -they become unreliable and useless.

Since January 1, The Jester has been systematically wreaking havoc with several websites he associates with Al Quiada and Jihadists via a Denial of Service attack delivered over the web

The Jester is taking on radical Islam through the web.

The Jester makes a point that he is not defacing web sites, a practice he denounces as mere graffiti.

In the absence of a lawful society is vigilantism wrong? Certainly there are many players on both sides of cyber conflicts that feel strongly about their purpose.

In the age old battle between generals and spies there is a similar conflict. The spies want to preserve their sources; the generals want to take them out.

I imagine that counter terrorism groups around the world rely on the sites that The Jester is targeting for valuable information, information that could lead to the capture of the next Christmas Bomber.

Is Jester to be characterized as the cliché outlaw hero who dishes out his own personal brand of justice on the bad guys? Or is he a criminal?

Tell me what you think?




By Richard Stiennon, Chief Research Analyst, IT-Harvest

By Anthony M. Freed, Director of Business Development, InfosecIsland.com