14 DAY TRIAL // The Romanian black hat known as Lulzcart, one of the most wanted hackers of the country, has accepted to take part in this week’s Hackers around the world interview.
The AntiSec hacker is responsible for breaching sites such as the ones of the International Monetary Fund, the National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics, the National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IGIN HH) and many that belong to Romanian government and police organizations.
Like a true black hat, he didn’t provide too many details regarding his life or his plans, but we discussed his mission, Sabu’s arrest, and we learned some interesting things about the “hacking for the lulz” concept.
Softpedia: What is the significance of the name "lulzcart"?
Lulzcart: Name 'lulzcart' symbolizes a big cart (huge shopping cart maybe) with a lot of lulz inside it, instead of usual stuffs :) I might change it in the future with lulztruck :)
Softpedia: How long ago did you start hacking and what determined you to embark on the "lulz boat"?
Lulzcart: It's been more than 6 years since I joined the "dark side" of the force, mostly for fun, and to be honest, lulzboat is the only place to find and spread fun fun fun over the internet :)
Softpedia: Do you always consider yourself as being part of the Anonymous community, or do you sometimes work as an independent hacker? Or are you also part of another team?
Lulzcart: The Anonymous community is not just about hacking, but hacking is an online method of protest against corrupt governments and corporations, and sometimes this method exposes interesting things, things that most of ppl can't see (for example, our dear ANCMRR institution - gov institution - using cracked windows, but they sign ACTA).
Beside this, I support the Anonymous ideas and yes, I do consider myself a "member". Also, I won't discuss about any hacking teams or about the fact that I do or I do not hack alone.
Softpedia: Tell me more about how you learned to hack. Was there someone who taught you or did you learn all by yourself?
Lulzcart: First of all, to be able to hack/crack/break (with a hammer) or whatever, you must learn how things work first. I see a lot of ppl using "hacking tools", where you just push a button or two and bang, you are in, beside the fact that most of the tools won't work very well or won't work at all.
This is one of the biggest mistakes someone can do (in terms of hacking). When you really understand how stuff works, you will be able (or not) to exploit the bugs in a specific application, and, choose what to do further (be a bad guy - "hacker" - and use that exploit to do "stuffs", or be a good guy and report it to admins, or simply do nothing).
I really advice ppl that have no idea about how things are working to stay away from this. And yes, most of the things I know, I learned them by myself, but exchanging ideas with others is always good.
Softpedia: What determined you to become a hacker? Something must have sparked the interest for the Internet underground.
Lulzcart: Word "hacker" is a little bit more for me...It can have a lot of meanings and I'm afraid that my ideology doesn't really fit to what that word really means, so let's stick to the lulz only :)
Softpedia: Do you keep tabs on how many sites you hacked/DDOS-ed/defaced? Tell me an approximate number and if any of the above can be considered your specialty.
Lulzcart: No, I don't keep tabs on the number of hacked/defaced/smashed/kicked websites, (most of them gov related websites) but they are many :) and we won't discuss numbers here.
And I don't agree with the DDOS idea, but it still can be fun doing it with a team of 200 or 300+ granny's (equipped with high bandwidth and proper tools) and a gov related target :)
Softpedia: Tell me more about your mission as a hacker. What is your ultimate goal?
Lulzcart: My "mission" as a part of the 99% (or better let's call it pissed off ppl because of the tard government) is definitely to be a pain for the government as much as possible and expose their "activities".
It's been a while since the gov had enough time to do something, but all they did was NOTHING. Now it's our move, and, most important, when the government wants to shut down the internet, it's definitely time to shut down the government. So I guess my goal (and not only mine) is very clear.
Softpedia: Romanian authorities are taking hacking seriously these days. Are you ever afraid of getting caught?
Lulzcart: Romanian authorities (most of them) are just too stupid. I wonder what else they are taking seriously, besides hacking. What are we doing wrong? Is exposing corruption a bad thing? Or better said, attempts to expose corruption. Things they are fighting against two.
Of course, the method used is not so "legal", but [expletive] dudes? We ain't hacking authorities’ home PC's to expose their holiday photos and stuff. But sure this is a bad thing...wonder why?
There is a lot of corruption among Romanian authorities, and surely they will not agree with the idea and fight against us. There are many examples out there, no need to expand this discussion, most ppl know what "Romanian authorities" are capable of.
Afraid? NEVER. We will fight to the end. And to be honest, all they will "catch" may be clips of themselves sucking their own finger.
Softpedia: Part of society sees hackers as some sort of criminals. Do you think hacktivists are seen differently? What makes you believe that what you are doing is actually for the greater good?
Lulzcart: It depends on what kind of "hacking" are we talking about. There are criminals out there and really bad ppl that will hack/crack/steal credit cards, bank accounts, etc. that I do not agree with, and sadly, this kind of ppl will always exist, and that's one of the biggest reason why hackers are seen like criminals.
On the other side, exposing corrupt governments and related institutions may be a good thing (not for them obviously) and may help ppl see the "actual truth from the gov backend" (or at least a part of it).
And I would like to ask Mr. Basescu (aka Base) a question: Where is the Romanian fleet? HOW DID THE BOAT SINK? :( but don't worry, the Lulzboat is on the way :)
Softpedia: In the future, do you see yourself employed as a white hat security specialist? Do you think you'll ever turn to the other side?
Lulzcart: Definitely NO. I know a lot of examples where "bad guys" turned into "good guys" and sooner or later started to work for the government or its affiliates, and once they joined the "gov team" it's almost impossible to get out or to ignore their requests, unless you want to lose your job.
It's like “hmmm, what they are requesting from me to do is bad, but I can't say a word, and that's it...just do it and shut up”. Now how's that?
Surely, not everybody will get a job in the government, there are white hats with lots of "brain" out there, and they are really good...but it's more fun in the "other side" :)
Softpedia: What other hobbies do you have besides hacking? How do you spend your free time?
Lulzcart: Definitely, trolling the government is the most relaxing hobby in the world. And it's wonderful and sweet to read their private e-mails and see how some of them are not even able to write (and probably to speak) properly their native language. LOL
Softpedia: What do you think about the arrest of the LulzSecs and Sabu?
Lulzcart: I am really sad and mad at the same time for what really happened regarding LulzSec members and Sabu.
It seems that what started as a "group for fun", turned into Sabu's trap. However, I will avoid talking about snitch Sabu because he doesn't even deserve to have his name spelled for what he did.
Although I was "working" with him a while ago, and I never could image that I was actually talking to a snitch/FBI agent/traitor or whatever you wanna call him.
Also I am very sad about Jeremy Hammond’s (crediblethreat) arrest. He was and still is a great guy and a true activist...I was having a "close relationship" with him and we were having a lot of fun working together...really, really, a great guy!
I will try to do my best to help him and his legal defence in any possible way!
Also, I would like to say that even with a snitch among us, the feds didn't accomplish too much (and will never do!), and the Stratfor leak is a good example. There was nothing that could have stopped the flow.
The files were downloaded somewhere else before sending them to the snitch (aka Sabu/feds), so I am really happy that the files finally arrived at WikiLeaks, so everyone can see what Stratfor is in fact (see Global Intelligence Files).
Maybe they did some "damage" among us, but we had our win too, so it must be really nice to see feds, once again, sucking their own fingers, and how they failed again.
I hope that the "snitch event" will be a good lesson for everyone involved in the movement. And for those who are tard enough to understand what NOT to do from now on, here are 3 simple rules to follow, among others:
1. Never share your real identity with anyone. 2. Never link your real nickname with the one used to do "things" 3. Never talk about your anonymous activities with real life friends/girlfriend (friends are usually the worst enemy).