TeaMp0isoN

TeaMp0isoN was a small threat actor group that reached prominence and garnered publicity in 2012 for its black hat hacking activities. These hacking activities included attacks on the United Nations, Facebook, Minecraft Forums, NATO, NASA, and several government and commercial organizations.

In 2012, TeaMp0isoN was disbanded following the arrest of two founders, Trick (actual name withheld) and MLT. Trick was purported to have hacked into the email account of a staffer of former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and then exposed that information online. In addition, Trick published email addresses and phone numbers of Tony Blair’s family, key contacts, and members of the U.K. government. Trick also admitted to deluging the U.K.’s national anti-terrorism hotline with automated phone calls. This attack was considered a denial-of-service attack.

Trick’s involvement in the U.K. hacking resulted in him being jailed for six months. Trick was expected to get a university education but instead failed to attend and ultimately relocated to the Middle East in support of ISIS activities.

A few years later, Trick rose to prominence again as a member of the Islamic State group. Further, Trick is believed by some to be the leader of the ISIS  “CyberCaliphate” hacking group. The CyberCaliphate spread propaganda and helped ISIS recruit through the malicious compromise of social media accounts and websites. Trick also posted the names of American service members, breached the personal information of over 1,400 American government workers, and more. As a result, Trick became an essential face of the ISIS recruiting effort. Trick was also purportedly involved in recruiting bombers in western countries and appeared to be in charge of foreign hostages.

Given his rise to prominence in ISIS, Trick was ultimately ranked as the third highest-ranked ISIS target on the Pentagon kill list. Given the danger Trick’s activities presented, he was targeted and killed by a U.S. drone near Raqqa.

Want to learn more? Check out our FREE Bugcrowd University to sharpen your hacking skills.

Organizations the world over need your help! Join our researcher community to connect with hundreds of organization programs focused on finding their security vulnerabilities. Our vast directory includes programs for all skill levels across many industries and from around the world.