Chaos Computer Club facts for kids
.svg)
Chaos Computer Club Logo (Chaosknoten aka Datenknoten)
|
|
| Formation | 12 September 1981 West Berlin, West Germany |
|---|---|
| Type | NGO |
| Purpose | Computer security hacking |
| Headquarters | Hamburg, Germany |
| Location |
|
The Chaos Computer Club (CCC) is Europe's largest group of computer experts. It has about 7,700 members. Founded in 1981, it is a registered club in Germany.
The CCC has local groups in many cities. These groups are called Erfa-Kreise. You can find them in Germany and nearby countries, especially where German is spoken. Since 1985, some groups in Switzerland have formed their own club called the Chaos Computer Club Schweiz (CCC-CH).
The CCC sees itself as a "galactic community of life forms." This means they welcome everyone, no matter their age, gender, or background. They work across borders for freedom of information. The club believes in open access to computers and technology. They also support using open-source software, which means its code is free for everyone to see and change.
Members of the CCC have shown and shared many important computer security problems. The CCC often speaks out against new laws or products. They do this when these things have weak security. They worry that such weaknesses could harm people's rights or privacy. Important CCC members often act as experts for the German constitutional court. They also help organize lawsuits and campaigns.
Contents
What Does the Chaos Computer Club Do?
Regular Events and Gatherings
The CCC holds the Chaos Communication Congress every year. This is Europe's biggest gathering for computer experts. In 2013, 9,000 people attended the event in Hamburg. By 2016, about 11,000 guests were expected. Many more people watched the event live online.
Every four years, the Chaos Communication Camp takes place outdoors. It's a big event for computer experts from all over the world. The CCC also used to hold a yearly conference called SIGINT in Cologne. This event focused on how digital technology affects society.
Another big yearly event is the Gulaschprogrammiernacht in Karlsruhe. More than 1,500 people attend this four-day conference. The Easterhegg is another yearly CCC event. It happens on Easter weekend and focuses more on workshops. The CCC often uses the c-base station in Berlin for its events.
Publications and Helping Others
The CCC publishes a magazine called Datenschleuder (data slingshot). It has been coming out since 1984. The Berlin group also makes a monthly radio show called Chaosradio. This show talks about different tech and political topics for two hours. You can hear it on a local radio station and online. Other radio shows and podcasts have also started from Chaosradio.
Many CCC groups take part in a volunteer project called Chaos macht Schule (Chaos teaches school). This project helps teach in local schools. Its goal is to improve how students, parents, and teachers understand technology and media.
CCC members work in big tech companies and government offices. For example, Andy Müller-Maguhn, a CCC spokesperson, was on the board of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) from 2000 to 2002.
CryptoParty Events
The CCC helps people learn about data privacy. Some of its local groups support or organize events called CryptoParties. These parties teach people the basics of how to keep their information private online. They also show how to use the internet anonymously.
History of the Chaos Computer Club
How It Started
The CCC was founded in West Berlin on September 12, 1981. Wau Holland and others started it. They knew that information technology would become very important in how people live and communicate.
The BTX-Hack
The CCC became famous in 1984. They showed how unsafe the German Bildschirmtext computer network was. They made the system charge DM 134,000 to a Hamburg bank. The money was returned the next day. Before this, the system's owner had ignored the CCC's warnings about the security flaws. They had told the public their system was safe.
Karl Koch and Computer Security
In 1987, the CCC was linked to a major computer security case. A group of German computer experts, including Karl Koch, were arrested. They had broken into US government and company computers. This event was shown in the movie 23.
GSM-Hack
In April 1998, the CCC successfully copied a GSM phone card. They broke the COMP128 encryption code. This code was used by many GSM SIM cards at that time.
Project Blinkenlights
In 2001, the CCC celebrated its 20th birthday. They created an amazing light show called Project Blinkenlights. It turned a building in Berlin into a giant computer screen. In 2002, they made another show called Arcade in France. In 2008, Project Blinkenlights went to Toronto, Canada, with project Stereoscope.
Schäuble Fingerprints
In March 2008, the CCC got and shared the fingerprints of German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. They also put the fingerprint on a film in their magazine. Readers could use this film to trick fingerprint readers. This was done to protest using fingerprints in German ID cards and passports.
Staatstrojaner Affair
The Staatstrojaner (Federal Trojan horse) is a computer program. Police can secretly install it on a computer. It lets them listen to Internet telephony calls. German law says police can only use such programs for listening to calls, not for other things.
On October 8, 2011, the CCC looked closely at the Staatstrojaner software. They found that the software could control the computer remotely. It could also take screenshots and run other programs. The CCC said this went against the court's rules.
The software also had many security problems. It could be controlled over the internet, but the commands were not encrypted. This made computers using the software open to attacks. The captured screenshots and audio files were encrypted, but not very well. All the data was sent through a server in the United States. This was a problem because the data left Germany's legal control.
The CCC's findings were widely reported in German news. This program was also called R2-D2 because of a code found in it. A company called DigiTask later said they sold spy software to governments. The German Interior Ministry said the Federal Criminal Police Office did not use R2-D2. However, it might have been used by police in different German states.
Phone Authentication Systems
The CCC has often warned phone users about weak biometric security. This was after the 2008 Schäuble fingerprints case. The CCC believes in protecting people's data. They also think computers can make life better. They see privacy as a personal right. The CCC does not tell people not to share information. Instead, they suggest better ways to protect privacy.
Apple TouchID
The CCC's biometrics team was able to unlock an iPhone 5S. They did this using a photo of the user's fingerprint from a glass surface. They used "easy everyday means" to do it.
Samsung S8 Iris Recognition
Samsung said its Galaxy S8's iris recognition was very safe. They claimed that iris patterns are unique and hard to copy. However, the CCC showed that they could trick the system. They used a high-resolution photo of the phone owner's iris and a special lens.
Fake Chaos Computer Club France
The Chaos Computer Club France (CCCF) was a fake computer expert group. It was created in 1989 in France. It was made by a government agency to watch French computer experts. Its goal was to find experts who might harm the country. A journalist said this group also worked with the French National Gendarmerie.
The CCCF had an online magazine called Chaos Digest (ChaosD). It published 73 issues between 1993 and 1993.
See also
- 23 (film)
- c-base
- Chaos Communication Congress
- Chaosdorf, a local CCC group in Düsseldorf
- Datenschleuder
- Digitalcourage
- Digital identity
- Hacker culture
- Information privacy
- Netzpolitik.org
- Project Blinkenlights
- Security hacker
- Tron (hacker)
- Wau Holland Foundation
