The self-described gay furry hackers in SiegedSec relaunched a hacktivism campaign aimed at targeting those critical of transgender rights.
The effort, dubbed #OpTransRights, initially began last year when the group targeted government websites in five states with policies against matters such as gender-confirming healthcare.
Now, instead of focusing on government entities, SiegedSec plans to target “churches, media sources, and other organizations.”
The campaign’s first action took place on April 1, when SiegedSec announced that it had hacked the River Valley Church in Burnsville, Minnesota, due to the pastor’s views towards transgender people.
The hack saw SiegedSec not only leak roughly 15,000 user accounts from the ministry’s website, including detailed prayer requests, but also use the church’s Amazon account to purchase thousands of dollars worth of inflatable sea lions.
In their announcement regarding the new campaign, SiegedSec revealed that they had taken actions against the church once again. Yet this time, the group chose to dox the church’s pastor Rob Ketterling, which included the release of his personal cell phone number.
“We encourage our viewers to send over a text to Rob,” the hackers wrote in their release. “Go tell him what you think about his transphobia!”
Although Ketterling has not responded to the attack on X, the pastor did share a YouTube video early Tuesday morning showcasing a recent sermon titled “A Biblical response to Gender Dysphoria.”
Ketterling also recently garnered attention after criticizing President Joe Biden for declaring March 31 as “Transgender Day of Visibility.” Ketterling and many other conservatives saw the decision as antagonistic given that the date this year also aligned with Easter.
While it’s unclear who or what SiegedSec will hack next as part of their campaign, the group showed a willingness to take on high-profile targets.
In October, the hacking group leaked over 3,000 files from NATO.
Later that month, SiegedSec breached a top telecommunications business in Israel and published data on around 50,000 customers.
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