Called a “Patriotic Hacker”… “Cyber Vigilante” … “Cyber Patriot” … which only begs the question:
Who Is The Jester?
He has allegedly taken down more than 170 Jihadi websites since 2010.
He has over 66,000 Twitter followers.
He hacked Wikileaks.
He even hacked Anonymous.
Five months ago he agreed to take part in a rare interview with NBC 5 in an encrypted chat room. The Jester told the NBC 5 investigators that he started hacking after realizing that there was a growing threat from Jihadis online using the internet to recruit, radicalize and even train homegrowners. He told Homeland Security Today:
[I]nstead of endlessly talking about what we might do, or what we could do, I decided as a private citizen to get up and just do it . . . and, I also like to smite the bad guys. I guess that’s why I continue to do what I do.
What makes him unique, is that unlike hacktivist groups like Anonymous which are worldwide, and group-driven by various ideologies and rules, this lone wolf focuses on US enemies and views his work as patriotic. According to US Army cyber-operations specialist T. J. O’Connor, the Jester has argued that the omnipotence and growth of the Internet has granted terrorists a safe haven, and stated his intentions to prevent such action.
O’Connor wrote a detailed paper on the Jester back in December 30, 2011. Titled: “The Jester Dynamic: A Lesson in Asymmetric Unmanaged Cyber Warfare,” he “examine[d] the significant impact [this] lone-wolf patriot hacker has had over the course of the last two years, and what important lessons we can learn from him on how to wage a successful fight in this domain.” O’Connor wrote that in the Jester’s first two years of hacking, he successfully attacked over 200 targets. O’Connor also wrote that the Jester’s desire to deny Internet sanctuary to jihadists appears to stem from his military service.
So who exactly is this Jester? Ashlee Vance, reporting in The New York Times back on Dec. 3, 2010, quoted a Pentagon source as saying The Jester is “a former defense operative with knowledge of Special Forces activities” who “was a onetime military contractor who had worked on projects for Special Operations Command.” According to CNN Money, the Jester claims to currently hold a desk job in the cybersecurity and intelligence field.
How does the government view the work of the Jester? If one views actions more seriously than words, it is important to note that despite the fact that the Jester’s hacking is illegal under US laws, no criminal charges have been pursued against him. The Jester told Homeland Security Today that he knew people inside the government. In fact, according to Homeland Security Today, his Twitter followers include shadow operators in the US intelligence and counterterrorism communities.
More than a few told Homeland Security Today on background that The Jester has, at the very least, their tacit approval. From the shadows, he’s quietly applauded.
Is it true? Is the government acting under willful blindness of the illegal acts of this cyber Jester? Should they be? Is this alleged tacit approval a call for other lone wolfs to follow in his footsteps?
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