| ==Phrack Inc.== |
| Volume Three, Issue Thirty-one, Phile #5 of 10 |
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| The History of The Legion Of Doom |
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| During the summer of 1984 an idea was formulated that would ultimately |
| change the face of the computer underground forever. This particular |
| summer, a huge surge of interest in computer telecommunications placed |
| an incredibly large number of new enthusiasts on the national computer scene. |
| This crowd of people all seeking to learn as much as possible |
| began to put a strain on the nation's bulletin board scene, as the novices |
| stormed the phonelines in search of knowledge. From out of this chaos |
| came a need for learned instructors to help pass on their store of |
| information to the new throngs. |
| One of the most popular bulletin boards of the day was a system in New York |
| state called Plovernet, which was run by a person who called himself |
| Quasi-Moto. This BBS was so heavily trafficked, that a major long |
| distance company began blocking all calls to its number (516-935-2481). |
| The co-sysop of Plovernet was a person known as Lex Luthor. At the time |
| there were a few hacking groups in existence, such as Fargo-4A and Knights of |
| Shadow. Lex was admitted into KOS in early 1984, but after making a few |
| suggestions about new members, and having them rejected, Lex decided to |
| put up an invitation only BBS and to start forming a new group. |
| Starting around May of 1984, Lex began to contact those people who he had |
| seen on BBSes such as Plovernet and the people that he knew personally |
| who possessed the kind of superior knowledge that the group he envisioned |
| should have. Many phone calls and Alliance Teleconferences later, the |
| group of individuals who made up the original Legion of Doom were compiled. |
| They were: |
| Lex Luthor |
| Karl Marx |
| Mark Tabas |
| Agrajag the Prolonged |
| King Blotto |
| Blue Archer |
| EBA |
| The Dragyn |
| Unknown Soldier |
| The group originally consisted of two parts: Legion of Doom, and Legion |
| of Hackers. The latter was a sub-group of the first, comprised |
| of people who were more advanced in computer related subjects. Later on, |
| as members began to all become more computer-based, the Legion of Hackers |
| was absolved. (The name "Legion of Doom" came from the cartoon series |
| "Superfriends," in which Lex Luthor, Superman's arch rival, led a group |
| by the same name) |
| The actual Legion of Doom bulletin board was quite ahead of its time. |
| It was one of the first "Invitation-only" hacking based BBSes; it was the |
| first BBS with security that caused the system to remain idle until |
| a primary password was entered; and it was the first hacking BBS to deal |
| with many subjects in close detail, such as trashing and social |
| engineering. The BBS underwent three number changes and three different |
| login procedures during its life. At its height, the BBS had over |
| 150 users and averaged about 15 posts per day. This may seem |
| high when compared to contemporary BBSes, but this was a private system, |
| with only very-competent users, so the quality of messages content was always |
| high. |
| There was always some confusion that falsely assumed since someone |
| was on the LOD BBS, that they were a member of the group. In fact, |
| only a handful of the total LOD membership were ever on the actual |
| LOD BBS. |
| The Legion of Doom also had special subboards created for its members on |
| other BBSes after the home base BBS went offline. The first was on |
| Blottoland, the next on Catch-22, followed by one on the Phoenix Project, |
| and the last on Black Ice Private. The group's members have usually tried to |
| keep a low profile publicly, and usually limited their trade of information |
| to select private BBSes and personal telephone conversations. This adherence |
| to privacy has always added to the LOD mistique. Since most people didn't |
| know exactly what the group was involved in, or experimenting with, people |
| always assumed that it was something far too detailed or sensitive to be |
| discussed. For the most part, this was not true, but it did not help to |
| diminish the paranoia of security personnel that LOD was after their |
| company's systems. |
| The group has undergone three distinct phases, each a result of membership |
| changes. The first phase ended with the busts of Marx, Tabas, Steve Dahl, |
| Randy Smith, X-man, and the abandonment by Agrajag and King Blotto. |
| The group lay semi-dormant for several months, until a resurgence |
| in the summer of 1986, in which several new members were admitted, and a new |
| surge of would-be hackers appeared, ready to be tutored. This phase again |
| ended in a series of busts and paranoia. The third phase basically revolved |
| around Summercon of 1988, where several new members were admitted by those |
| LOD members attending the festivites. The third phase is now at an end |
| brought on by busts and related paranoia, again, two years after its onset. |
| There is no indication that points to any resurgence in the future, but |
| nothing is certain until summer. |
| Since its creation, LOD has tried to put out informative files on a wide |
| variety of topics of interest to its contemporaries. These files ranged from |
| the first actual scanned directory of Telenet, to files on various operating |
| systems. The LOD Technical Journal was to be a semi-regular electronic |
| magazine comprised of such files, and other items of interest to the hacking |
| community. Only three issues of the Technical Journal were produced. As |
| the fourth issue was being pieced together, several members were raided, and |
| work on it was abandoned. |
| >From the time it was formed continuing up to the present, the Legion of |
| Doom has been quite a topic of controversy in the computer underground and |
| with computer security professionals. The Legion of Doom has been |
| called everything from "Organized Crime" to "a Communist threat to national |
| security" to "an international conspiracy of computer terrorists bent |
| on destroying the nation's 911 service." Nothing comes closer to the |
| actual truth than "bored adolescents with too much spare time." |
| LOD members may have entered into systems numbering in the tens of |
| thousands, they may have peeped into credit histories, they may |
| have monitored telephone calls, they may have snooped into files and |
| buffered interesting text, they may still have total control over |
| entire computer networks; but, what damage have they done? None, with |
| the exception of unpaid use of CPU time and network access charges. What |
| personal gains have any members made? None, with the exception of three |
| instances of credit fraud that were instigated by three separate greedy |
| individuals, without group knowledge. |
| The Legion of Doom will long be remembered in the computer underground as |
| an innovative and pioneering force, that consistently raised the collective |
| level of knowledge, and provided many answers to questions ranging from the |
| workings of the telephone system to the structure of computer operating |
| systems. No other group dedicated to the persuit of computer and |
| telecommunications knowledge has survived longer, and none probably will. |
| The Legion of Doom 1984--1990 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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| Alumni of the Fraternal Order of the Legion of Doom (Lambda Omega Delta) |
| Handle Entered Exited Location Reasons for leaving |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Lex Luthor Early 84-- Florida |
| Karl Marx Early 84--Late 85 Colorado Bust w/Tabas..College |
| Mark Tabas Early 84--Late 85 Colorado Too numerous to list |
| Agrajag the Prolonged Early-84--Late 85 California Loss of Interest |
| King Blotto Early 84--Late 85 Ohio College |
| Blue Archer Early 84--Late 87 Texas College |
| EBA Early 84-- Texas |
| The Dragyn Early 84--Late 86 Minnesota Loss of Interest |
| Unknown Soldier Early 84--Early 85 Florida Bust-Toll Fraud |
| Sharp Razor Late 84--Early 86 New Jersey Bust-Compuserve Abuse |
| Sir Francis Drake Late 84--Early 86 California Loss of Interest |
| Paul Muad'dib Late 84--Early 86 New York Modem Broke |
| Phucked Agent 04 Late 84--Late 87 California College |
| X-Man Late 84--Mid 85 New York Bust-Blue Boxing |
| Randy Smith Late 84--Mid 85 Missouri Bust-Credit Fraud |
| Steve Dahl Early 85--Early 86 Illinois Bust-Credit Fraud |
| The Warlock Early 85--Early 86 Florida Loss of Interest |
| Terminal Man Early 85--Late 85 Massachusetts Expelled from Group |
| Dr. Who Early 85--Late 89 Massachusetts Several Reasons |
| The Videosmith Early 86--Late 87 Pennsylvania Paranoia |
| Kerrang Kahn Early 86--Mid 89 London, UK Loss of Interest |
| Gary Seven Early 86--Mid 88 Florida Loss of Interest |
| The Marauder Early 86--Mid 89 Connecticut Loss of Interest |
| Silver Spy Late 86--Late 87 Massachusettts College |
| Bill from RNOC Early 87--Late 87 New York Bust-Hacking |
| The Leftist Mid 87--Late 89 Georgia Bust-Hacking |
| Phantom Phreaker Mid 87-- Illinois |
| Doom Prophet Mid 87-- Illinois |
| Jester Sluggo Mid 87-- North Dakota |
| Carrier Culprit Mid 87--Mid 88 Pennsylvania Loss of Interest |
| Master of Impact Mid 87--Mid 88 California Loss of Interest |
| Thomas Covenant Early 88--Early 90 New York Bust-Hacking |
| The Mentor Mid 88--Early 90 Texas Retired |
| Necron 99 Mid 88--Late 89 Georgia Bust-Hacking |
| Control C Mid 88--Early 90 Michigan |
| Prime Suspect Mid 88-- New York |
| The Prophet Mid 88--Late 89 Georgia Bust-Hacking |
| Phiber Optik Early 89--Early 90 New York Bust-Hacking |
| ** AKA ** |
| Randy Smith Poof! |
| Dr. Who Skinny Puppy |
| Kerrang Kahn Red Eye |
| Phantom Phreaker ANI Failure / Psychedelic Ranger |
| Doom Prophet Trouble Verify |
| Thomas Covenant Sigmund Fraud / Pumpkin Pete |
| Necron 99 The Urvile |
| Control C Phase Jitter |
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