OpenSC.ws was recently hacked and the deface page was up for about a day or so, the site is now down and the webmaster is nowhere to be found. Many are wondering what was the motivation behind the individuals targeting OpenSC.ws (a “underground” programming forum). After the original owners left, including Icarus (the owner of the forum at the time). Icarus sold the forum to whoever would pay. A user by the name of “Reine” helped contribute to the payment of OpenSC.ws (the community was told).
Now, none of this is confirmed, but looking at the evidence it is believed Reine and Icarus are the same person, but who is the person behind these two accounts?
At the end of 2011 OpenSC.ws released an Android and IPhone app to access their website with a GUI that was user-friendly and allowed users to access the forums on the move. The app was released and can now be found here.
If you look at the author of the app that Reine stated that he had coded, you will see a unfamiliar name:
Who is this Can YILDIZLI? Well, if we do a quick Google search you come up with many links such as a LinkedIn account, Facebook and a couple articles of a competition. One of the articles states:
Teams of 3 or 4 contestants from all over the world took part in the contest. The challengers were members of leading computer technology companies, cyber war intelligence experts, teams from military and law enforcement, and IT experts of universities.
The objective of the challenge was to track hackers in cyberspace and crack codes to collect intelligence. Can Yıldızlı joined the challenge alone under the alias “LoneWolf,” and cracked hundreds of codes to uncover the data hidden behind music and image files. Yıldızlı kept track of professional hackers with the software he developed, and gathered a wealth of digital evidence.
The challenge is considered the largest and the longest competition in digital evidence collecting and intelligence. The Pentagon aims to discover more talent in the field and encourage more IT experts to work in cyber defense.
The challenge began in January 2011, and contestants were given problems of varying difficulty for almost 1 year.
Speaking on collecting digital evidence, cracking codes and various issues in intelligence, Can Yıldızlı said: “I cracked a code placed in a digital image file to uncover the encrypted message. I also tracked hackers to collect evidence of their criminal acts and identities. I was the first among 1147 teams from 52 countries. My competitors were usually teams of 4, while I competed as a ‘LoneWolf.’ At the end of the challenge, I took first place with 4789 points. The first and second runners-up were teams of 4 people, and they only took around 3500 points. Although I competed on my own, I was able to leave my closest competitors far behind.”
Can Yıldızlı was invited to an international conference to be held by the Department of Defense in Atlanta. All expenses of Yıldızlı will be paid for by the Department of Defense, and he will receive an award at the ceremony to be held during the conference.
Yıldızlı was also invited to a visit to the IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats) headquarters in Malaysia. All expenses of this trip will be paid for by the Department of Defense as well.
The article says that Can YILDIZLI or Icarus was gifted in the art of Security, and no doubt works for the FBI. A user on another forum states:
Icarus was hired by them because of his ‘skill’ he’s a genius when it comes to security. However when it comes to programming he’s quite the opposite.
Now this is all fabricated from the evidence that has been found, none of this is fact but a theory developed by the users of Ic0de.org, we will probably never get the true answer, but as of now, OpenSC.ws is down and probably won’t be back in the near future.
