During the 1980s, the cDc was well known throughout the BBS scene for their underground ezine, also called CULT OF THE DEAD COW,[19] which they continue to produce to this day. The group claims to have invented the ezine
The ezine has led to some criticism of the group over the years; in a 1994 episode of Geraldo entitled "Computer Vice," Geraldo Rivera referred to the group as "a bunch of sickos" for having published an article called "Sex with Satan," originally published in 1988.[20][21]
In 1994, cDc member Omega coined the term "hacktivism."[22] The group has been active in hacktivist causes since that time.
In the late 1990s, the cDc claimed to have worked with a group of Chinese dissidents called "The Hong Kong Blondes." The goal of the Hong Kong Blondes was to disrupt computer networks within the People's Republic of China in order to allow PRC citizens to access censored content online. The Hong Kong Blondes were, ostensibly one of the first hacktivist groups, though the group's existence and actions have never been independently verified. The cDc advised the group on strong encryption techniques.[23][24][25][26] The cDc formally severed ties with the Hong Kong Blondes in December 1998.[27] In 2015, former cDc member Oxblood Ruffin revealed that the hacking activities said to have been carried out by the Hong Kong Blondes were an invention meant to serve as a cover for the extraction of several Chinese pro-democracy activists.[28]
On January 7, 1999, the cDc joined with an international coalition of hackers to denounce a call to cyberwar against the governments of China and Iraq.[29]
When questioning Dr. Patrick Ball during his International War Crimes Tribunal in 2002, Slobodan Milošević asked Dr. Ball about his relationship with the cDc.[30] Ball had given a talk and been a member of a cDc-sponsored panel on hacktivism[31] at DEF CON 9 in 2001.
In early 2006, the cDc launched the "Goolag" (a play on gulag, Soviet forced labour camps) campaign in response to Google's decision to comply with China's Internet censorship policy and censor search results in the mainland-Chinese version of its search engine. The campaign consists primarily of the use of a parody of Google's logo which reads "Goolag: Exporting censorship, one search at a time."[32][33][34] The group encouraged readers to make t-shirts and other merchandise and donate any proceeds from their sale to Human Rights in China.
Students for a Free Tibet held an anti-Google rally in Dharamsala, India on February 14, 2006, employing the logo in a variety of ways.[35] The cDc then issued a press release about the campaign, wherein it described Microsoft, Yahoo!, Google, and Cisco as the "Gang of Four" due to their respective policies of compliance with the Beijing government's Internet policies. The United States Congress was also called out on this issue in the release.[36] This press release, originally entitled "Congress jerks off, gang of four reach for raincoats," was picked up by many news sources, as an abbreviated version of it was distributed by PR Web (with the altered title of "CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc) Launches Campaign Against Internet Censorship in China").[37]
The cDc has released several tools, for both hackers/system administrators and for the general public. Many of these are related to computer security and are sometimes dubbed "hacker tools".
The Automated Prayer Project Edit
The Automated Prayer Project,[38] written by Javaman, is "a VT420 connected to a Sun Ultra5 via a serial cable which displays the output of a continuously running program. The signaling rate is limited to 9600 baud. The program itself cycles through the Rosary, displaying a new individual prayer once every thirty seconds. Each individual prayer is then sent out via UDP to a random machine on the Internet on a random port."
Back Orifice (often shortened to BO) is a computer program designed for remote system administration. It enables a user to control a computer running Microsoft Windows operating system from a remote location. The name is a pun on Microsoft BackOffice Server software. The program debuted at DEF CON 6 on August 1, 1998. It was the brainchild of Sir Dystic. According to the group, its purpose was to demonstrate the lack of security in Microsoft's operating system Windows 98.[39]