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Hong Kong Hackers do exist... honest

Will Knight ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 23 Aug 1999 12:24 BST

High profile hacking group Cult of the Dead Cow has hit back at claims that it fabricated the existence of a Hong Kong based team of politically motivated hackers called The Hong Kong Blondes.

In July of last year, "Oxblood", a member of the Cult publishedan interview with the supposed leader of the Hong Kong Blondes, "Blondie Wong", who outlined the group's plans to target the Chinese government's computer infrastructure. In December, the cult posted a statement explaining that the Hong Kong Blondes were going underground for their own safety.

Oxblood refutes the notion that he made the whole thing up, saying, "The blondes do in fact exist, although we truncated our relationship with them last December for security reasons -- theirs and ours."

This might seem a bit ironic coming from an individual describing himself as one of the Cult's "ministers for propaganda", but Oxblood also tries to play down the idea that the media is getting a raw deal from the Cult. He adds, "I'd say that the press is working with a learning curve like everyone else. Its not that there are too many hacking/cracking stories, it's that they're mostly negative or that they trade in stereotypes."