Jack Recider

It was great to have someone on my team when it comes to privacy. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for my listeners, you can get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and use promo code DD20 at checkout.

It was great to have someone on my team when it comes to privacy. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for Delete Me. Now at a special discount for my listeners, you can get 20% off your Delete Me plan when you go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and use promo code DD20 at checkout.

The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and enter code DD20 at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries code DD20. Explicit content warning. This episode has some language in it that might not be suitable for all audiences. Okay. Hi. Welcome to the show. I want you to meet a fellow named just, well, let's just call him Default.

The only way to get 20% off is to go to joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries and enter code DD20 at checkout. That's joindeleteme.com slash darknetdiaries code DD20. Explicit content warning. This episode has some language in it that might not be suitable for all audiences. Okay. Hi. Welcome to the show. I want you to meet a fellow named just, well, let's just call him Default.

So as a teen, he was playing RuneScape. And one day he got in an argument with someone in the game who threatened to hack him. And suddenly, his computer went to a blue screen. And when it booed up after that, that's what got him interested in hacking.

So as a teen, he was playing RuneScape. And one day he got in an argument with someone in the game who threatened to hack him. And suddenly, his computer went to a blue screen. And when it booed up after that, that's what got him interested in hacking.

This led him to understand that you can get computers to do things that you shouldn't be allowed to do. He got curious and wanted to learn more about how they work. Then one day his mom grounded him. Banned from the internet for a week. Well, curious little default, tried to crack his neighbor's Wi-Fi and sure enough was able to do it. And he got back online.

This led him to understand that you can get computers to do things that you shouldn't be allowed to do. He got curious and wanted to learn more about how they work. Then one day his mom grounded him. Banned from the internet for a week. Well, curious little default, tried to crack his neighbor's Wi-Fi and sure enough was able to do it. And he got back online.

An AltaVista search about hacking might have led you to a message board. And the message board would have introduced you to hacker tools. And those tools might be made by a certain group of people. And those groups would be present on IRC, a chat room. Getting in the chat room might not be so easy, though. It might be invite-only.

An AltaVista search about hacking might have led you to a message board. And the message board would have introduced you to hacker tools. And those tools might be made by a certain group of people. And those groups would be present on IRC, a chat room. Getting in the chat room might not be so easy, though. It might be invite-only.

So you got to message the channel operators to ask permission to join. But they'll deny you because they don't know you. But you notice the person who denied you to get in is also in another chat room. So you join that one to see what's going on there. And you eventually find your way into some hacker chat rooms. Now, the year was 2008.

So you got to message the channel operators to ask permission to join. But they'll deny you because they don't know you. But you notice the person who denied you to get in is also in another chat room. So you join that one to see what's going on there. And you eventually find your way into some hacker chat rooms. Now, the year was 2008.

And being on IRC and in hacker chat rooms in 2008 was a very, very special time and place to be. Those who were there will never forget those years. In fact, the whole world will never forget what happened then. This was the heyday of Anonymous. And Default found his way right into the heart of it.

And being on IRC and in hacker chat rooms in 2008 was a very, very special time and place to be. Those who were there will never forget those years. In fact, the whole world will never forget what happened then. This was the heyday of Anonymous. And Default found his way right into the heart of it.

The anonymous chat room was a hot mess. The biggest disaster of a chat room you've ever seen. Whatever you can imagine is the most awful picture ever. Double that. And then spam it to the chat room. That's what was going on there. Gore, brutality, pornography, vile and disgusting imagery.

The anonymous chat room was a hot mess. The biggest disaster of a chat room you've ever seen. Whatever you can imagine is the most awful picture ever. Double that. And then spam it to the chat room. That's what was going on there. Gore, brutality, pornography, vile and disgusting imagery.

It was kind of a hazing experience that you had to get through in order to find your way deeper into anonymous. Sometimes new people would be asked to eat a stick of butter or a tube of toothpaste on camera to prove yourself. Because here's the thing. Cops, feds, journalists, security researchers, and normies would show up in these chat rooms.

It was kind of a hazing experience that you had to get through in order to find your way deeper into anonymous. Sometimes new people would be asked to eat a stick of butter or a tube of toothpaste on camera to prove yourself. Because here's the thing. Cops, feds, journalists, security researchers, and normies would show up in these chat rooms.

And if they pop in to see what's going on, and it's just full of gory imagery, a lot of them can't handle it. They might vomit even and then just nope, right out of there. Spamming the most graphic and awful pictures was like a firewall of some kind.

And if they pop in to see what's going on, and it's just full of gory imagery, a lot of them can't handle it. They might vomit even and then just nope, right out of there. Spamming the most graphic and awful pictures was like a firewall of some kind.