Cryogenix History Project
The Cryogenix History Project preserves internal (Cryogenix / CyberArmy-related) and external resource archives.
Archives & Resources
The History of CyberArmy
Mission Statement (original)
CyberArmy stands for freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of information on the Internet. We support the free creation, development and proliferation of ideas and knowledge through such forums as the open-source community. We recognize that in order for these ideas to flow freely, people must also possess the right to their own privacy. We further recognize that to preserve these freedoms and rights, they must be exercised responsibly. We seek to educate people about privacy and issues that threaten it, and we seek to promote the responsible use of the Internet as a medium for the sharing of thoughts, ideas, and information. We believe that the people best qualified to regulate the Internet are its users, and we seek to empower them to remove or mitigate influences which are subversive to these freedoms and rights.
Mission Statement (late)
The CyberArmy community provides an environment where users can find and share information on a myriad of technology related topics, including privacy and internet regulation. CyberArmy also provides a platform on which users can develop their skills and creativity.
History
Origins and early growth
CyberArmy was founded in mid-1998 by Pengo, initially as a collection of hacker tools on a free Xoom page. After rapid traffic growth the page was closed; mirror space followed at arctik.com and electronicarmy.com. The cyberarmy.com domain was registered later in 1998; by year’s end the site saw ~10,000 daily hits.
From hacker tools to Netizen’s Union
The focus shifted from a blackhat audience to a Netizen’s Union amid debates over regulation and abuse on the web. An early statement of purpose framed CyberArmy as a united community defending a free, self-regulated Internet and campaigning against abuse.
Zebulun challenges and community self-regulation
With a Red Hat server colocated at Digital Nation, free hosting and the “Zebulun Challenge” launched. Visitors ranked by challenge success gained admin influence, pushing the site toward self-regulation and broader, Internet-centric community goals.
Brigade era and media attention
Brigades organized work under ranking officers. CAPF reportedly took down ~100 child-pornography sites; coordinated actions targeted spammers; petitions on Echelon flooded Congress. Coverage appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and ZDNet; registrations topped 100,000 and traffic peaked around 260,000 hits/day.
Leadership transitions
Pengo handed operations to Chawmp. MrYowler served briefly as CinC before stepping down for health reasons; Scanjack took the torch. Sites were moved to a private LAN with connectivity provided by former Marshal ion6ix.
Network and services
CyberArmy maintained an IRC network set up by Chawmp, Enstyne, and The 11th Angel, running Unreal + ircservices, customized in-house and maintained by a small ops team.
Downtime and relaunch
After a sudden hosting outage, the main site went offline during a planned redesign; forums and IRC stayed up. In September 2002, thanks to wa1800z’s backend (dinah), CyberArmy returned, drawing over 1,000,000 hits its first week.
Stability and domain split
From May 2004, hosting costs were covered by staff contributors. A domain split followed: cyberarmy.com was acquired by former CinC MrYowler, while the active site continued at cyberarmy.net under scanjack. snarkles served as CinC (Oct 2003–Oct 2005); Condor191 became CinC on 12 Oct 2005.
Server crash and Operation Blackcat
wa1800z announced a fatal HDD error with no recent backups, leading to the server’s demise. Emergency planning under “Operation Blackcat” followed, with ion6ix leading next steps.
Survival of IRC & later revivals
By April 2020, CyberArmy IRC remained active (thanks to ion6ix, genius3000, Asmodai, jeian). MrYowler’s group revived classic Zebulun at ca-zeb.com; a forum appeared at cyberarmy.com.
After years of stagnation, new energy returned. This site began as a Dinah re-implementation endorsed by ion6ix (then CinC) and developed by int16h, kasi. Later events led to the creation of CyberArmy.cc and ultimately a merger with Cryogenix - the site you’re visiting now.