# Level Seven (hacker group)

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Hacker group

The Level Seven Crew Level Seven Crew Logo Formation 1994-2000 Purpose Hacker groups, Hacker Location United States Origin North, New Jersey Founders foil vent Affiliations Global Hell, Hacking for Girliez

**The Level Seven Crew**, also known as *Level Seven*, *Level 7* or *L7* was a [hacking group](/source/Hacker_group) that was in operation during the mid to late 1990s*.* It is rumored to have dispersed in early 2000 when the founder 'vent' was raided by the [FBI](/source/FBI) on February 25, 2000.

## Origins

Thought to have been derived from [Dante Alighieri](/source/Dante_Alighieri)’s novel, [The Inferno](/source/Divine_Comedy). The group called themselves Level Seven after the seventh level of hell, the *violent*.

Contained in some of the group’s web defacements, was the quote: "il livello sette posidare la vostra famiglia", which loosely translated from [Italian](/source/Italian_language) says, "Level Seven owns your family".

The group, spent most of their time on [IRC](/source/IRC) - in the [EFnet](/source/EFnet) channel #LevelSeven discussing security, or the lack thereof. The group was also associated with other high-profile hacking groups such as [globalHell](/source/GlobalHell) and Hacking For Girliez.

## Notability

The hacking group was noted in Attrition's Top 20 most active groups of all time by claiming responsibility for over 60 unauthorized penetrations of computer systems in 1999 alone, including The [First American National Bank](/source/First_American_National_Bank), [The Federal Geographic Data Committee](http://fgdc.gov), [NASA](/source/NASA) and [Sheraton Hotels](/source/Sheraton_Hotels_and_Resorts).[1]

Level Seven is also credited with being the first group to hack a [.ma](/source/.ma) domain and server located in [Morocco](/source/Morocco). The server was owned by the [Faculté des Sciences Semlalia, Marrakech](https://web.archive.org/web/20051223073335/http://www.ucam.ac.ma/)

However, the group is most widely known for the September 7, 1999 defacement of ([The US Embassy in China's Website](https://web.archive.org/web/19991003184844/http://www.usembassy-china.gov/)), in regards to the [1998 U.S. embassy bombings](/source/1998_U.S._embassy_bombings).

Level Seven typify a group of hackers who exploit or attack computers and networks for more than just the thrill and challenge, and for reasons other than money. During their era, they were activists, and they used their computer skills to make political statements and protest actions by government and industry. Thus, they bridged the realms of hacking and [activism](/source/Activism), operating in a domain that is now called "[hacktivism](/source/Hacktivism)".[2]

## Quotations

"I would be inclined to think that normal hackers would not be able to break into something like the US embassy. The security measures they use are very, very different to those protecting a commercial Web server." - *Ian Jonsten-Bryden (British government security expert of Oceanus Security in Suffolk)*

"We embrace technology, we learn from it, we use it, and we exploit it. Technology is a very powerful tool, as is knowledge, but some people go beyond these boundaries, testing limits, finding new ways and ideas... we call these people hackers, and we are one of many.." - *vent, September 1999*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-introblock_1-0)** Attrition (January 2000). ["Feds, Felons and Flakes: Reflections on the Attrition Mirror"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060718215458/http://attrition.org/security/blackhat/BH-2000-fff-public.ppt). Archived from [the original](http://attrition.org/security/blackhat/BH-2000-fff-public.ppt) (ppt) on 2006-07-18. Retrieved 2006-10-06. {{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-hacktivism_2-0)** Denning, Dorothy (September 2002). ["Hacktivism: An Emerging Threat to Diplomacy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20061004211915/http://www.afsa.org/fsj/sept00/Denning.cfm). Archived from [the original](http://www.afsa.org/fsj/sept00/Denning.cfm) (doc) on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2006-10-06. {{[cite journal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_journal)}}: Cite journal requires |journal= ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#missing_periodical))

## External links

- Level Seven. ["Complete List of Defacements"](http://attrition.org/mirror/attrition/l7.html). Attrition. Retrieved 2005-02-06.

- ["Hackers put racist, anti-government slogans on embassy site"](http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/07/embassy.hack). *Insurgency on the Internet*. CNN. 1999-09-07. Retrieved 2005-07-06.

- ["Embassy site hackers aimed to show its vulnerability"](https://web.archive.org/web/20030206011937/http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/08/hack.folo/). *Insurgency on the Internet*. CNN. 1999-09-08. Archived from [the original](http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/08/hack.folo) on February 6, 2003. Retrieved 2005-07-06.

- Will Knight (1999-09-10). ["Embassy cracker may be playing government's game"](http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,39020369,2073628,00.htm). *The response to crackers invading a US embassy site: It's just what the US wants*. ZDNet UK. Retrieved 2006-03-05.

- [Level Seven "Going Down"](https://web.archive.org/web/20050831124648/http://www.nwo.net/osall/News/What_Happens/what_happens.html)

- [Level Seven Interview](https://web.archive.org/web/20061022150629/http://www.nwo.net/osall/News/Old_News/Level_Seven/level_seven.html)

- [Level Seven Responds](https://web.archive.org/web/20061022151428/http://www.nwo.net/osall/News/Old_News/Level_Seven/Response/response.html)

v t e Hacking in the 1990s ← 1980s Timeline of security hacking incidents Timeline of computer viruses and worms 2000s → Incidents Moonlight Maze Operation CyberSnare Operation Sundevil Groups globalHell Global kOS L0pht Level Seven Milw0rm MOD Individuals Mark Abene Dark Avenger Erik Bloodaxe Jean-Bernard Condat Lewis De Payne Jonathan James Elias Ladopoulos Kevin Mitnick Justin Tanner Petersen Ehud Tenenbaum John Threat YTCracker Steven Games Malware 1260 5lo ABC Abraxas Acid Acme Ada AGI-Plan Alcon Ambulance AntiCMOS AntiEXE ARCV-n Barrotes Bliss Bomber BonziBuddy Casino CIH CTX Eliza ExploreZip Form Happy99 Hare KoKo KAK Melissa Michelangelo Natas OneHalf Ontario Scott's Valley Staog Sub7 Twelve Tricks Virus Creation Laboratory Whale

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Level Seven (hacker group)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_Seven_(hacker_group)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_Seven_(hacker_group)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.