https://theintercept.com/2024/07/09/gay-furry-hackers-claim-credit-for-hacking-heritage-foundation-over-project-2025/ Search for: [ ] [Search] * Politics * Justice * National Security * World * Technology * Environment Support Us * Special Investigations * Voices * Podcasts * Videos * Documents * About * More Ways to Donate * Impact & Reports * Join Newsletter * Become a Source * * * * * * * * * (c) THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Terms of Use Privacy Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts introduces former Vice President Mike Pence during an event to promote his new book at the conservative think tank on October 19, 2022 in Washington, DC. Support Us "Gay Furry Hackers" Claim Credit for Hacking Heritage Foundation Files Over Project 2025 Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts introduces former Vice President Mike Pence during an event to promote his new book at the conservative think tank on Oct. 19, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) "Gay Furry Hackers" Claim Credit for Hacking Heritage Foundation Files Over Project 2025 The hacker collective SiegedSec says it infiltrated the conservative think tank to oppose its campaign against trans rights. [Shawnhe] Shawn Musgrave July 9 2024, 11:01 a.m. Support Us Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts introduces former Vice President Mike Pence during an event to promote his new book at the conservative think tank on October 19, 2022 in Washington, DC. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts introduces former Vice President Mike Pence during an event to promote his new book at the conservative think tank on Oct. 19, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp SiegedSec, a collective of self-proclaimed "gay furry hackers," has claimed credit for breaching online databases of the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that spearheaded the right-wing Project 2025 playbook. SiegedSec released a cache of Heritage Foundation material as part of a string of hacks aimed at organizations that oppose transgender rights, although Heritage disputed that its own systems were breached. In a post to Telegram announcing the hack, SiegedSec called Project 2025 "an authoritarian Christian nationalist plan to reform the United States government." The attack was part of the group's # OpTransRights campaign, which recently targeted right-wing media outlet Real America's Voice, the Hillsong megachurch, and a Minnesota pastor. Join Our Newsletter Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. I'm in In his foreword to the Project 2025 manifesto, the Heritage Foundation's president, Kevin Roberts, rails against "the toxic normalization of transgenderism" and "the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology." The playbook's other contributors call on "the next conservative administration" to roll back certain policies, including allowing trans people to serve in the military. "We're strongly against Project 2025 and everything the Heritage Foundation stands for," one of SiegedSec's leaders, who goes by the handle "vio," told The Intercept. In its Telegram post, SiegedSec said it obtained passwords and other user information for "every user" of a Heritage Foundation database, including Roberts and some U.S. government employees. Heritage Foundation said in statement Wednesday that SiegedSec only obtained incomplete password information. The remainder of more than 200GB of files the hackers obtained were "mostly useless," SiegedSec said. The Intercept reviewed copies of files provided to the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets. They included an archive of the Heritage Foundation's blogs and a Heritage-aligned media site, The Daily Signal, as of November 2022. This is at least the second hack against the Heritage Foundation this year. In April, Heritage shut down its network following a cyberattack tentatively attributed to nation-state hackers. SiegedSec targeted the Heritage Foundation in early June, according to vio, who denied involvement in the earlier attack. A spokesperson for the Heritage Foundation said Wednesday that the files were not obtained by hacking its systems, but that SiegedSec discovered them on a third-party's site. "An organized group stumbled upon a two-year-old archive of The Daily Signal website that was available on a public-facing website owned by a contractor," said Noah Weinrich, a Heritage spokesperson. "No Heritage systems were breached at any time, and all Heritage databases and websites remain secure, including Project 2025. The data at issue has been taken down, and additional security steps have since been taken as a precaution." SiegedSec's other recent operations have targeted NATO and Israeli companies to oppose the war in Gaza. Update: Wednesday, July 10, 6:36 p.m. ET This article was updated to include comment from the Heritage Foundation disputing that the files were released by SiegedSec were the result of a hack of its systems and were hosted instead on a third-party's website. Share * Copy link * Share on Facebook * Share on X * Share on LinkedIn * Share on WhatsApp Contact the author: [Shawnhe] Shawn Musgrave shawn.musgrave@theintercept.com @ShawnMusgrave on X Related Former President Donald Trump at the first Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on June 27, 2024. Trump's Camp Says It Has Nothing to Do With Project 2025 Manifesto -- Aside From Writing It Latest Stories U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) listen during a news conference calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the U.S. Capitol building on November 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. Even Centrists Are Questioning Biden. But the Squad Is Divided. Akela Lacy - 3:33 pm Several Squad members who were vocal critics of Biden's handling of Israel's war on Gaza have voiced support for the president. [Sotomayor_JunkScience] There's a Junk Science Crisis in Criminal Convictions. Sonia Sotomayor Calls It Out in Alabama Bite-Mark Case. Liliana Segura, Jordan Smith - 1:03 pm While the court refused to review the 1985 case of Charles McCrory, Sotomayor urged states to pass laws to help exonerate people imprisoned on debunked forensic evidence. [Decon_Biden] Deconstructed Podcast Why Biden's Still In: Insights From Democratic Insider Dmitri Mehlhorn Deconstructed - 11:50 am A top defender makes the case for Biden staying in. Join The Conversation * About * Support Us * Join Newsletter * Contact Us * Policies * Terms of Use * Privacy * SECUREDROP (c) The Intercept. All rights reserved