On July 9th, a group of self-described Gay Furry Hackers named SiegedSec, announced on their Telegram channel that they had breached one of the largest and most powerful Conservative think tanks in the world: The Heritage Foundation.
The Heritage Foundation is responsible for the fascistic Project 2025, a roadmap for future Conservatives who become President that is openly anti-LGBTQ+, anti-POC, anti-women, anti-sex, anti-...
… Well, everything except White Supremacy and unfettered capitalism.
This wasn’t SiegedSec’s first rodeo, but it was the last. The now-disbanded group went out with one hell of a bang, so we will look at their previous acts of fluffy hacktivism, how the Heritage hack came about, and the shocking information they found.
What came first? The Hacktivist or the Furry? While that question has plagued humanity for centuries, SiegedSec’s co-founder and leader, known as Vio, gave me their answer in a brief interview.
While Vio began their life of cybercrime in 2020, being a Furry was already a well-established identity for them.
“I became a furry many many years ago, even before i knew the term furry,” said Vio, “I believe it started out as many others, watching shows and playing games with anthropomorphic characters, and becoming more and more involved in communities around that media.”
When asked if being a Furry is more of an identity than a kink, Vio said they did lean more towards identity, but there was still fun to be had.
“Yes, I do often engage in the kinky aspects of the furry fandom,” Vio said.
Vio said their love of computers steadily grew into a thirst for justice, becoming inspired by figures like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden. The tipping point for them was Anonymous’ #OpMinneapolis, in which the infamous group hacked the Minneapolis Police Department after George Floyd’s murder.
The group SiegedSec came together on hacking-focused Discord servers for some light fun before really digging in.
Vio told me that in the furry corner of the hacking world, they found a supportive and kind community, a far cry from “...the toxicity of the typical hacking community,” as they put it.
When asked on a recent Reddit AMA why they chose to be known as “Gay Furry Hackers”, Vio gave a near perfect answer:
“...We called ourselves Gay Furry Hackers for two reasons; 1, it expressed who we are. 2, it made for funny headlines :3”
This silly and light-hearted humor became an integral part of SiegedSec’s operations. One hilarious example is the group's operation against the Idaho International Laboratory, one of the country’s largest nuclear research facilities, demanding the scientist do the important work of making catgirls a real thing.
If you are confused as to why they would do this, SiegedSec clearly explained with a post on X (Twitter):
“Many people ask ‘why?’ for INL breach. We are cats, intricacies such as ‘why’ do not concern us.”
As an owner of two cats, I can confirm that the question of “why” never enters their fuzzy little heads.
As the group progressed, SiegedSec still did some hacks for fun, but they steadily focused more on hacktivism targeted at Conservative institutions to combat anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment and harmful actions. One of their well-known campaigns was OpTransRights, where they hacked targets like Steve Bannon’s Real America's Voice app, at least five state governments pushing anti-Trans laws, and the anti-LGBTQ+ River Valley Church.
The River Valley Church hack is a favorite of Vio’s, thanks to the added flair of spending thousands of the mega-church’s dollars on inflatable sea lions.
Some voiced concerns that their actions were giving Queer folks a bad name, but SiegedSec responded with this well-reasoned argument.
“[T]hroughout our attacks on transphobic entities, we have received concerns that our attacks will be used to label the LGBTQ+ community as ‘terrorists’ and ‘criminals,’” the group wrote in a Telegram message. “[T]he thing is, these types of people will blame the LGBTQ+ community regardless of what we do. [T]hey will look for a reason to hate, they won't listen to reason, they want to spread lies to shun people different than them.”
With OpTransRights on a roll, SiegedSec knew it was time for their biggest score yet: Project 2025 and The Heritage Foundation.
For those living in blissful ignorance, The Heritage Foundation is the most powerful and influential Conservative think-tank in the America. Project 2025 is the group’s roadmap for whoever the Republican Presidential nominee is, whether it ends up being Trump or not.
While the over-900-page document spells out how a new Republican government can dismantle everything that holds fascists at bay, this handy one-page explainer from accountable.us spells out the more direct ways this plan from Hell will effect Queer citizens.
Project 2025 wasn’t the initial motivation for Vio and their merry band of pranksters hacking Heritage, though. It was an important aspect, but SiegedSec had known for a long time that the Heritage Foundation would be their grand finale.
“[I] always wanted to let SiegedSec go out with a bang, the moment [I] was told about the vulnerability in Heritage, [I] immediately knew that was going to be the final hack. [I]t was truly one of the most exciting moments for me…” Vio said.
With Vio’s enthusiasm for cyber-criminal life dwindling and Project 2025 gaining notice in the public eye, it was finally time for one final score before disbanding the group.
Over a week of daily releases, the Gay Furry Hackers released thousands upon thousands of emails, passwords, user data, and logs to the public. One of the most popular leaks was the Telegram chat logs between SiegedSec and Mike Howell, the director of the Heritage Foundation.
The conversation started with Howell questioning their motives before turning into a stream of insults and threats against the hackers, calling them “degenerate perverts” and saying they “won't be able to wear a furry tiger costume when you're getting pounded in the ass in the federal prison I put you in…”
With more fire-and-brimstone clamoring from Howell, SiegedSec gave the only response he deserved:
“Meow :3 (image of cat :3)”
The leaked data did a great job of outing those who worked for or with Heritage, laying their insane and hateful beliefs bare. There were some aspects of the information that surprised even Vio.
“... the most shocking thing [I] found was from a security researcher who investigated the breach. [S]he found that plenty of the support on Heritage's website came from China.”
The security researcher in question may be Jacking Singh, aka @hackingbutlegal on X, but I was unable to verify. That being said, she is the one who delved into the data and found numerous IP addresses and other information that led back to China.
While all of the data is still in the process of being verified as of the time of this writing, these leaks combined with Howell’s insane chat transcript and the growing sentiment that Right-Wingers are just plain weird have put a tiny dent in the behemoth that is the Heritage Foundation.
It’s not an outright victory, but it is satisfying to watch.
Not long after their big shebang, SiegedSec announced it would be disbanding. Part of it is due to the increased attention the group was receiving from Federal law enforcement, part of it is also Vio’s dwindling passion, and part is just knowing when it is time to go.
The work of this gang of Gay Furry Hackers may have seemed silly, but it is still important. As we get closer and closer to the 2024 election, it’s easy to get discouraged and feel powerless. Please remember though, there's still plenty you can do, even if you’re not a hacker.
“[I] don’t believe [hacking] is more effective as a form of protest, but [I] do believe it can strongly support other types of protest,” Vio told me.
We at Kinkly salute this fluffy band of troublemakers for their commitment to human rights and living the rally cry of “be gay and do crimes” to the fullest.
