Earlier this month, a group of self-proclaimed “gay furry hackers” claimed to have breached the Heritage Foundation, releasing two gigabytes of internal data from the right-wing think tank on Tuesday. The hacktivist collective SiegedSec, known for previously hacking NATO’s computer systems, announced the Heritage hack on its Telegram channel as part of its #OpTransRights campaign. This campaign also targeted the far-right media outlet Real America’s Voice and the Hillsong megachurch. SiegedSec cited objections to Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s policy proposal for a second term for former President Donald Trump, as a motivating factor.
Heritage Foundation spokesperson Noah Weinrich denied the hack, calling it a “false narrative and an exaggeration by a group of criminal trolls trying to get attention.” Weinrich explained in an email to The Verge that an organized group had found a two-year-old archive of The Daily Signal website on a public-facing website owned by a contractor. This data included usernames, names, email addresses, and incomplete password information of both Heritage and non-Heritage content contributors, as well as article comments and the IP addresses of commenters. Weinrich emphasized that no Heritage systems were breached and that all Heritage databases and websites remain secure, including Project 2025.
Despite Heritage’s denial, Mike Howell, executive director of the foundation’s Oversight Project, claimed credit for “disbanding ” the “Gay Furry Hackers.” SiegedSec released chat logs of a conversation between one of its members and Howell on Signal. The logs show Howell threatening to expose the hackers and destroy their reputations. Guess it was a lie and not at the same time? Lie of schrodinger.
“We are in the process of identifying and outing members of your group, reputations and lives will be destroyed. Closeted furries will be presented to the world for the degenerate perverts they are. You cannot hide. Your means are minuscule compared to mine. You now can either turn yourself in or you can cooperate.”.
– Howell, allegedly
What a great idea to start a fight with the entire I.T. sector and and a huge part of their own military, right?
Howell confirmed the legitimacy of the messages in an exchange with a Daily Dot reporter, but Weinrich did not comment on the alleged messages.
SiegedSec said the goal of the hack was to draw attention to and combat the Heritage Foundation’s anti-LGBT and anti-abortion policy proposals. The hacked data, reviewed by CyberScoop, includes Heritage Foundation blogs and material related to The Daily Signal.
What is Project 2025?
Heritage published Project 2025 in April 2023. The 900-plus-page document, created with input from over 100 conservative organizations, outlines plans to expand presidential power, purge federal agencies of career employees, and replace them with Trump loyalists. The mandate includes banning porn, dismantling several federal departments and reversing policies promoting abortion as healthcare, among other measures that directly affect LGBT people.
Trump recently attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, claiming he had “no idea” who was behind the plan, despite a CNN analysis finding over 140 former members of his administration involved in drafting the mandate.
Source: The Verge
