The Story Behind the Expression ‘1337 Leet’

window.document.getElementById(‘post-3021’).parentNode.className += ‘ adhesive_post’;In the days of Windows 95, a group of infamous hackers named “The Dead Cow Cult” used to take remote control of Windows 95 machines. They used a nasty software package called Back Orifice, and used the network port 31337 to take over thousands of Win95 computers worldwide. Their purposeful misspelling of the world “elite” as “leet” or “1337” was a way to bypass censorship programs. Years later, the Dead Cow Cult influence has morphed into a subculture of jargon and power user language. People who speak “leet” today are not malicious hackers. Instead leetspeak is often the trademark of serious Internet gamers and people who pride themselves on being technically savvy. About.com explains some of the leetspeak world here…
(photo by Brand X Pictures / Getty Images)
The Story Behind the Expression ‘1337 Leet’ originally appeared on About.com Internet for Beginners on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 00:21:35.
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Original post by Shaister.com