Hacker group Anonymous has released a massive trove of names, passwords and addresses of far-right website administrators, that experts are calling the 'Panama Papers of hate groups'.
The intrusion targeted Epik, a Washington-based domain registrar that provides a safe haven to far-right websites, some of whom had been turned away from more mainstream web hosting services.
The 150 gigabytes of data are a 'who's who' of Internet - and real-life - trolls. Epik has hosted QAnon home base 8chan, neo-Nazi news site The Daily Stormer and the far-right social media platforms Gab and Parler.
Experts say that the vast amount of data could take years to sift through.
'It's massive. It may be the biggest domain-style leak I've seen and, as an extremism researcher, it's certainly the most interesting,' Elon University computer science professor Megan Squire told the Washington Post.
'It's an embarrassment of riches - stress on the embarrassment.'
The Anonymous data breach targeted Epik, a domain registrar known for hosting websites that promote far-right conspiracy theories like QAnon. Above, a QAnon rally in New York in 2020
Epik was also used by Ali Alexander, a far-right activist who reportedly tried to hide his involvement in websites promoting January 6 protests before the Capitol riot broke out
The breach was first reported by freelance reporter Steven Monacelli on September 13.
Earlier this month, Epik briefly hosted the website ProLifeWhistleblower.com, which was removed by GoDaddy because it asked for the names of doctors who performed abortions in defiance of Texas's new restrictive pro-life law.
Epik was founded in 2009 by Rob Monster, who has defended his work as keeping the internet free and open.
The data leak revealed the lack of cybersecurity undergirding Epik, which some say should have known better considering the sensitive material it hosts.
Anonymous made the data available for download with a note saying it would help researchers trace the ownership and management of 'the worst trash the Internet has to offer.'
The files include years of website purchase records, internal company emails and customer account credentials that reveal who administers some of the biggest far-right websites in the world.
The data includes client names, home addresses, email addresses, phone numbers and passwords.
Ali Alexander, an activist who organized one of the rallies that led to the January 6 Capitol riot, tried to hide his creation of 'Stop the Steal' websites after the riot.
