A hacker claims to have obtained and leaked massive amounts of data from the Oath Keepers, a far-right militia group whose members were present at the Capitol incident on January 6.
The hacker furnished the journalism and transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets) with approximately 5GB of material, which includes everything from emails and internal discussions to information on the organization’s members and donors.
Among the targets of the hack is the militia’s Rocket. Chat server, an open-source communication platform where members can band together. An older archive contains messages delivered in June 2020, while a second cache contains messages sent between March 2021 and September 19.
More than 10,000 emails from high-profile members’ inboxes, including state chapter presidents, were also discovered in the breach, with dates ranging from January 13 to September 19 leaked.
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Days after the failed insurgency, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes claimed that the hosting service LiquidWeb had pulled the organization’s website offline. The paramilitary group would later move its web presence to Epik, a contentious domain registrar notorious for providing a safe haven for far-right social media platforms like Parler, Gab, and, previously, 8chan.
The hacking organization Anonymous claimed responsibility for the breach of Epik on September 13, which resulted in the exposure of more than a decade’s worth of data. Over 15 million unique email addresses were revealed, as well as names, phone numbers, physical addresses, passwords, and credit card details.
The leak revealed subpoenaed domains as well as attempts by major far-right figures to remove their ties to dozens of websites in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 leak. One Florida guy has already lost his real estate employment as a result of the leak after being linked to various anti-Semitic websites.
Despite the fact that the Oath Keepers’ internet infrastructure is hosted by Epik, the Daily Dot was unable to determine whether the data leak was linked to the same hacking campaign that targeted the web host. The dates discovered within the breach, on the other hand, roughly correspond to the Oath Keeper’s move to Epik in January.
The Daily Dot attempted to contact the Oath Keepers founder using a phone number supplied by a Rocket. The chat user identified as Rhodes but did not receive a response.
According to USA Today, the DOJ has accused Rhodes of assisting in the coordination of the Jan. 6 attack outside the Capitol. Prosecutors claim Rhodes directed his militiamen on which weapons to carry and which exits were easily stored. Rhodes, who has not been indicted thus far, disputes that the gang planned to invade the Capitol ahead of time.
DDoSecrets co-founder Emma Best told the Daily Dot that the leaked data will shed new light on the paramilitary group’s inner workings.
“The Oath Keepers release provides an unprecedented picture of the group’s members, donors, structure, and operations, both before and after the January 6th insurgency attempt,” Best added. “While certain concerns will remain, the answers it may provide about one of the largest far-right groups, which includes current and former law enforcement and military personnel, will provide plenty of fodder for both national and local journalists.”
Best went on to say that DDoSecrets has made the chat logs and emails available to the general public on its website, but that the member list, as well as donor and financial information, will be restricted to journalists and researchers.
