Die von Kardinal Rainer Maria #Woelki vorangetriebene und umstrittene »Kölner Hochschule für Katholische #Theologie« bekommt einen neuen Geschäftsführer: Der Bonner Rechtsanwalt Christoph #Konopka betrachtet die #KHKT als »Zukunftsprojekt der #Kirche in Deutschland«. (1/2)

Konopka had formed an “anarchist group of boys” called Realm of Chaos to do vandalism, computer hacking and others forms of destruction for “entertainment purposes,” court records said.

“Court revives lawsuit against ‘Dr. Chaos'” – Journal Gazette, 27th August 2003

I’m planning on doing a video about this eventually over on the YouTube channel, but in the meantime let’s look at Dr. Ch@os in a blog.

Dr. Ch@os (referred to as “Dr. Chaos” in the media at the time) is a former computer systems administrator who worked for an ISP called “Infinity Technology” in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In 2002 Dr. Ch@os was arrested by the University of Illinois at Chicago police while trespassing with two teenage accomplices in a steam tunnel system beneath the UIC east campus, UIC had recently had a string of burglaries and so were on heightened alert. It was at this point that police discovered a vial of sodium cyanide in Dr. Ch@os’ pocket and a digital camera with photos of numerous Chicago buildings on it’s memory card. The campus was temporarily evacuated pending a full inspection of the steam tunnels.

During the course of the ensuing investigation police eventually discovered that Dr. Ch@os had founded a group comprised of an “anarchist group of boys” called “Realm of Ch@os” “the purpose of which was to take personal entertainment” (as described by FBI agent Leslie Lahr) from physical vandalism, hacking, arson, sabotaging of TV and radio broadcasts, destruction of power lines and software piracy.

“Court revives lawsuit against ‘Dr. Chaos'” – The Associated Press, 27th August 2003

Along with the litany of destruction that the police and FBI uncovered it was discovered that Dr. Ch@os had been living in a CTA (Chicago Transport Agency) storage room that was attached to the Chicago subway that he had put his own locks on. With access to various CTA employee’s keys and subway tunnels Dr Ch@os was able to traverse large parts of Chicago underground, undetected.

Still image from WGN news footage of the search of Chicago subway infrastructure

In one storage area of the subway it turned out that Dr. Ch@os had hidden 7 boxes of sodium and potassium cyanide that he had retrieved from an abandoned warehouse and the various keys he had acquired to areas associated with electrical, rail, subway, water reclamation and bridge infrastructure around Chicago.

Chicago’s subway system was shut down as it was searched for any further possible hiding places Dr. Ch@os might have stashed dangerous substances amid what became a major police operation. Once the FBI became involved Dr. Ch@os began admitting his part in an extensive campaign of vandalism along with his group, the Realm of Ch@os.

As a result of the interviews conducted the FBI visited the local Chicago 2600 meeting, meetings loosely affiliated with the hacker magazine 2600, as Dr. Ch@os had attended some of these meetups. I recently filed a FOIA request with the FBI for records related to the interviews they conducted at that meeting.

FOIA request I recently filed

I had previously filed a FOIA with the FBI for “Realm of Ch@os” or “Realm of Chaos” that was returned with no records found, though I intend to make further requests as this is a fascinating piece of history.

You can find a Wired article with details of the FBI questioning of 2600 participants here.

As well as the 2600 meetings the FBI also briefly investigated some urban exploration groups that Dr. Ch@os had been a part of, Dr. Ch@os was like a living embodiment of hacking adjacent hobbies but very much on the dark side, lockpicking, urban exploration and that classic hacker BBS catch-all section “anarchy”.

The FBI noted that Dr. Ch@os had stolen two computers that he had stashed in the subway maintenance area he called home and was “wardriving” around Chicago to see if he could access sensitive networks.

FBI agent comments on Dr. Ch@os wardriving to WGN

Ultimately Dr. Ch@os spent about 20 years in prison, some of that time in Supermax with high profile prisoners like the Unabomber and Al Qaeda members, eventually being released in 2019.

You can watch part one of a fascinating WGN News series about Dr. Ch@os below, made after his release from prison, there are four parts and they are all about five or six minutes long.

The WGN series also details a radio tower Dr. Ch@os tried to burn down in his native Wisconsin and his destruction of electrical infrastructure which cut power to the town in which he lived, before he moved to Chicago.

WGN News tracks down Dr. Ch@os on his release from prison in 2019.

He told WGN, when they eventually tracked him down that although being Dr. Ch@os had been an interesting chapter in his life that he doesn’t have “huge regrets” over, it was not something he wanted to get back into. He expressed interest in becoming an “ethical” hacker.

You can also find a podcast series by WGN on Dr. Ch@os here, although I have not had a chance to listen to it yet if it is as informative as their video series I would recommend it if you want to learn more.

https://realhackhistory.org/2023/03/24/the-curious-case-of-anarchic-hacker-mastermind-dr-chos/

#2000s #2600 #Chicago #DrChOs #DrChaos #DrChaos #FBI #hacker #hackers #hacking #Konopka #RealmOfChaos