Hacked neo-Nazi websites reveal Canadian connections
Data exposes people associated with Blood and Honour and Volksfront
CBC News
Posted: Feb 1, 2012 5:57 PM PT
Last Updated: Feb 6, 2012 1:13 PM PT
Related
External Links
(Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.)
The names of dozens of alleged white supremacists in Canada are contained in files leaked by computer hackers in Europe intent on exposing hate movements, CBC News has learned.
The alleged white supremacists' names were revealed earlier this month by members of a loose-knit group of hackers called Anonymous on a website called nazi-leaks.net, which is now offline.
In addition to emails and secret websites and blogs, the hackers uncovered photographs of children giving Nazi salutes at a gathering in Missouri, confidential legal documents and displays of Hitler tattoos.
A picture of a young boy making a Nazi salute at a meeting in Missouri are among photos uncovered when computer hackers infiltrated online hate sites. (CBC)The exposure is a huge blow to hate groups that organize online across Canada, said Helmut-Harry Loewen, a University of Winnipeg sociology professor and a member of the Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society.
"We can now begin to piece together a more accurate picture in terms of the distribution of these types of racist groups across Canada," Loewen said.
Among the information hacked were the names of 74 Canadians, with associated street addresses, email addresses and passwords - who were hacked from Blood and Honour and from a website that sells nazi and military paraphernalia.
Also leaked were 142 e-mails from people who had joined Blood and Honour's Canadian online forum.
Alleged members charged
Attention has been drawn to Blood and Honour since the arrests in December of three alleged members of the organization who have been charged with attacks on five members of visible minorities in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
Helmut-Harry Loewen says he hopes the exposure hampers hate groups' recruitment. (CBC)The names of two of the accused, Alistair Miller and Robertson De Chazal, show up in the files uncovered by the European hackers. Miller, 20, and de Chazal, 25, are charged with an attack in which a sleeping Filipino man was apparently sprayed with a flammable liquid and set on fire.
Anti-racist groups hope the exposure hampers online recruitment by white supremacist organizations.
"[These organizations] are going to have to be even more careful in terms of who they trust, who they associate with," said Loewen. "They're going to have to look over their shoulders. The police will have access to this info once it becomes more widespread. Employers, neighbours and so on."
Supremacist angered
Another name uncovered by the hackers was that of Bill Noble, who in 2008 was convicted in B.C. of wilfully promoting hatred.
A map made from hacked data reveals clusters of hate group activity across Canada. (CBC)Noble is upset thousands of emails concerning his white supremacist views, legal woes, infidelity, and even some details of his online dating were exposed.
"If it can be determined that any of these individuals carried out these acts, because they were fully aware that they were interfering with the survival of an endangered race, then they should indeed be exterminated," Noble said in an interview with CBC News via Skype from a location he would not reveal.
"Obviously someone is really trying to harass me and cause problems for me," said Noble. "It's annoying as hell and it's probably compromised a lot of private information."
With files from the CBC's Natalie ClancyShare Tools
Latest British Columbia News Headlines
- Petition looks to rename Victoria Day
- A group that includes some prominent Canadian actors, writers and politicians is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to change the name of Victoria Day. more »
- Vancouver man attacked, killed in Costa Rica
- A Canadian man has been killed in Costa Rica in an apparent home invasion, but Foreign Affairs has released few other details on the matter. more »
- Canadian on EI shut out amid foreign worker influx
- A jobless Canadian IT professional who is collecting employment insurance is upset because he now suspects several recent jobs he applied for went to temporary foreign workers. more »
- Xbox launch Tuesday highly anticipated
- Microsoft's next-generation Xbox expected to be revealed Tuesday, and anticipation for the entertainment console's latest evolution is running high. more »
Must Watch
Top News Headlines
- Unknown remains found on Dellen Millard's farm
- Police searching the farm of Dellen Millard, the 27-year-old charged with first-degree murder after the remains of Ancaster, Ont., man Tim Bosma were discovered, have found other remains on the property, but it's unclear if they are human or animal. more »
- Canadian on EI shut out amid foreign worker influx
- A jobless Canadian IT professional who is collecting employment insurance is upset because he now suspects several recent jobs he applied for went to temporary foreign workers. more »
- Can the Senate fire a senator?
- An expert on parliamentary rules says the Senate has the power to turf a senator from the chamber, as long as a majority approves the expulsion, and as long as there is cause. more »
- Nahlah Ayed: Vote-wary Iranians mull Ahmadinejad's successor
- Iranians go to the polls in less than four weeks to choose a new president. The reform movement is still smarting from its bitter defeat four years ago, but the jockeying for power is no less intense, Nahlah Ayed reports. more »
- Edmonton boy, 2, killed after car hits patio
- A two-year-old boy is dead after a car smashed into a patio at a south Edmonton restaurant Sunday night. more »
- Canadian on EI shut out amid foreign worker influx
- Vancouver man attacked, killed in Costa Rica
- Prince Andrew in Victoria for Highland Games
- East Vancouver residents in 'guerrilla gardening' campaign
- Thief robs, injures woman in wheelchair
- Jeep driver apologizes after stunt kills Edmonton woman
- Public raising funds to buy alleged Rob Ford crack video
- Rob Ford should resign if allegations true, councillors say
- Holmes Hydro can proceed without environmental assessment

