Legion of Doom (hacking)

Infobox computer underground
group_name = Legion of Doom


caption =
other_names = LOD
LOD/H
origin =
country = United States
status = inactive
years_active = 1980–2000 2008–Present
category = Hacking
founders = Lex Luthor
products = LOD Technical Journals
affiliates = Masters of Deception
MindVox
Cult of the Dead Cow

website = The Legion of Doom (LOD) was an extremely influential hacker group that was active from the 1980s to the late 1990s and early 2000. Their name appears to be a reference to the main antagonists of Challenge of the Superfriends.

LOD was founded by the hacker Lex Luthor, after a rift with his previous group the Knights of Shadow (much as the Masters of Deception would later be founded after Phiber Optik had a rift with Chris Goggans and LOD, eventually leading to the Great Hacker War and disbanding of both groups).

At different points in the group's history, LOD was split into LOD and LOD/LOH (Legion of Doom/Legion of Hackers) for the members that were more skilled at hacking than pure phone phreaking.

Unlike Masters of Deception there were different opinions regarding what the Legion of Doom was. LOD published the Legion of Doom Technical Journals and regularly contributed to the overall pool of hacking knowledge and information, while causing no direct harm to the phone systems and computer networks they took over. On the other hand, many LOD members were raided, charged and in some cases successfully prosecuted for causing damage to systems and reprogramming phone company computers (Grant, Darden and Riggs, etc). While the "Bellsouth" case could be construed as exploration of the phone system, with claims that no real damage was done, there are other former LOD members such as Corey A. Lindsly (a.k.a. Mark Tabas) who were clearly interested in for-profit computer crime, with no goal except personal gain. [ [http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/phonmast.htm "Phone Masters" Ringleaders Sentenced to Prison: 41 Months] U.S. Department of Justice, Press Release, 1999.] [ [http://www.wweek.com/html/crime011200.html Crime and Justice, Sneakin' Around] Crime & Justice, Willamette Week, January 12, 1999.]

Although the overall expressed beliefs and behavior of LOD and MOD were different, it can be difficult to untangle the individual actions of any given member. In many cases there seems to be cross-over between the two groups or collaboration between LOD and MOD members, even in the midst of The Great Hacker War.

Members of LOD

As of 2006 what has happened to each individual member of the Legion of Doom is unknown. A small handful of the higher-profile LOD members who are accounted for includes: Chris Goggans "Erik Bloodaxe", Dave Buchwald "Bill From RNOC", Patrick K. Kroupa "Lord Digital", Loyd Blankenship "The Mentor", Bruce Fancher "Dead Lord" and Mark Abene "Phiber Optik", who was a member of both LOD and Masters of Deception (MOD).

Other members included: Steven Nygard "The Dragyn", Steven G. Steinberg "Frank Drake", Jason Chon "Riot", Corey A. Lindsly "Mark Tabas", Peter Jay Salzman "Thomas Covenant", Adam Grant "The Urvile", Frank Darden "The Leftist", Robert Riggs "The Prophet", Kenton Clark "Monster X", Todd Lawrence "The Marauder", Scott Chasin "Doc Holiday", Dan Karkonski "Control C"/"Phase Jitter", and Jake Kenyon Shulman "Malefactor".

Former LOD people whose legal names are unknown include: Agrajag The Prolonged, King Blotto, Blue Archer, Unknown Soldier, Sharp Razor, Doctor Who, Paul Muad'Dib, Phucked Agent 04, X-man, Randy Smith, Steve Dahl, The Warlock, Terminal Man, Silver Spy, The Videosmith, Kerrang Khan, Gary Seven, Carrier Culprit, Master of Impact, Phantom Phreaker, Doom Prophet, Prime Suspect, The m0nit0r, Skinny Puppy, Professor Falken, Solomon Grundy (which was later shortened to "Sundry"), Compu-Phreak and LoD founder Lex Luthor.

References

Public access legal records and transcripts

* US Government's Sentencing Memorandum, US v. Grant, Darden and Riggs, Criminal Action Number 1:90-CR-31, December, 1990. (US Government v. "Legion of Doom")
* The entire online text of " [http://www.mit.edu/hacker/hacker.html The Hacker Crackdown] ", Bruce Sterling's book on the topic.
* LOD Technical Manuals and souce notices
* [http://www.textfiles.com/magazines/LOD/ Electronic Magazines: The Legion of Doom/Hackers Technical Journal] (Note: Although the text files appear to support and condone illegal activity, all of the techniques and technolgies are dated enough to be rendered useless)

Note that the LOD does not engage or condone illegal or criminal activities. This would cover, but is not limited to, theft of long distance services, credit fraud or data destruction/alteration.

ee also

* Dave Buchwald (Bill from RNOC)
* Chris Goggans (Erik Bloodaxe)
* Patrick Kroupa (Lord Digital)
* Loyd Blankenship (The Mentor)
* Bruce Fancher (Dead Lord)
* Mark Abene (Phiber Optik)