In a world where numerous injustices are observed, the best way that a single voice can be heard is through the Cyberworld. With many people connected by the internet, channeling these sentiments will easily solicit social awareness and concern to all we called netizens. With a few clicks, small news can become an internet sensation, primarily if it targets high profiled organizations or individuals, and most, if this addressed to the government. This is how the case of the identified hacktivist (hacker and activist) called VandaTheGod had used this cyberworld avenue to let the world know about his sentiments against their government. A sole individual can connect and gain support and sympathy not only to other people affected with the same issue but also people around the world that condemned the raised injustice.
Since July 2019, he uses his talents and skills to make the government of Brazil know about the injustices that are happening in their country. Issues such as corruption, scarcity of job opportunities, and police brutality are his main topic for doing his deeds. VandaTheGod was allegedly linked to Brazilian Cyber Army (BCA), which is a group of hacktivist that shares the same idealogy. The main group objective is to post anti-government messages and vandalizing official government websites in Brazil.
Focusing with VandaTheGod, Cybercrime Solutions researchers in Zone-H confirmed that he was able to manage to hack 4,820 entries from their website scanning intrusion records. He attacked by defacing official websites not only by the government of Brazil but also by other public figures, universities, and health care providers. His attack was observed not only in Brazil but also with some organizations from the United States, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, South Africa, Canada, UK, and Germany. On other reports, he also claimed that he was able to gain access to a million patients in New Zealand that he offered to sell for $200.
His hacktivist works were stopped towards the end of 2019 after his real identity has been revealed with the aid of the security firm Check Point.
Following his trail for months, they were able to track his WHOIS information and ready to link it to his other social media accounts. The security firm added that he enjoys the attention he is receiving and boastfully posts it on his social media account after he commits his endeavor. These and other suspicions get more clear by cross-checking the posts such as his announcement to stop his hacking deeds once he reached the 5000 marks that lead to his identification. All evidence was submitted to the local authority who has jurisdiction to it to take further action.
This is just a sample of ingenuity that people can do that suffers injustices. The growing number of them is becoming alarming, and though their method to be heard is being condemned, they still managed to gain support from other netizens. Though it is idealistic, we strived for equality and a better opportunity that can only be achieved if we are all treated fairly.
