Level Seven (hacker group)
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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.
The group, spent most of their time on IRC - in the EFNet channel #LevelSeven discussing security, or the lack there of. The group was also associated with other high-profile hacking groups such as, Global Hell (gH) and Hacking for Girliez (HFG).
The hacking group claimed responsibility for over 60 unauthorized penetrations of computer systems in 1999 alone, including The First American National Bank and The Federal Geographic Data Committee.
However, the group was most widely known for their 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."
On Topic
"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)