Where the LKA and BKA are stuck, she helps. Ornella Al-Lami is an IT expert and hacker. People come to her who are looking for help in identifying pedophiles, cyber groomers and agitators. And “N3ll4”, as she calls herself online, is cracking down.
In her early youth, Ornella Al-Lami was the victim of a stalker. Later, an older man hacked into her first webcam and asked the young girl to take off her clothes. She came into contact very early on with pedophile criminals and so-called groomers, i.e. people who approach children on the Internet and manipulate them according to their will.
Nella, as she calls herself, had contact with computers just as early. Because when her highly gifted brother was nine years old, he began assembling his own computers and delving deeper into the subject. This obviously spread to the younger sister – and after her webcam was hacked, she wanted to understand how this could happen.
“N3ll4” continues where the police have to stop
The older man had inadvertently started a career that is second to none. Today, Al-Lami is a full-time cyber security specialist and also takes care of investigating cybercriminals, which the German authorities cannot easily penetrate due to legal hurdles. For this huge achievement, the 24-year-old with Romanian-Ukrainian roots is followed by tens of thousands on social networks – even if Instagram in particular has repeatedly blocked her profiles.
“N3ll4” talks to the star about her work, the beginnings, fake excuses for school and cyber exorcists.
Hi Nella, thank you very much for your time. To start with, could you briefly describe what you actually do?
Good question (laughs). Actually, I don’t have a special focus in my job as a hacker. In general, I deal with pedo-criminals, right-wing extremists, fraudsters or am active in reconnaissance. It always depends on what’s on the table. When I started at Instagram, my focus was clearly on pedophiles because they are so careless with pictures of children and that’s why there are many perpetrators there. On Twitter, it’s more the right-wing extremists who feel safe there and spread their ideology. Unfortunately, the balance is basically the same, there is always enough to do.
do you do this alone
Basically the hacking, yes. Of course I have help, but I usually do the work. However, our team consists of a total of six people who mainly help with the organisation, looking after the victims and answering letters.
I have to ask: how did it all start? You don’t just become a hacker and learn your skills at school. Was there a trigger?
Unfortunately, I had to experience abuse very early on. I grew up in the Jehovah’s Witnesses and had a stalker in that church. Not only did he constantly approach me in the meetings, but also constantly contacted me via SMS. An early form of cybergrooming, so to speak. I had to go through the same thing again when I had my first webcam during the MSN time and an older man had access to it who asked me to undress in my children’s room – and knew that I was a child. Unfortunately, taking over a camera was very easy back then. This is particularly difficult today – especially with Android smartphones – but still not.
First Steps: Mother’s email account hacked
And that was the point where you decided to do something about it?
Not really. First and foremost, I wanted to find out how the man had managed it. That just fascinated me and I had to know that. That was my first contact with hacking and manipulating computers.
And then you immediately used your skills to help other victims of cybergroomers and pedophiles?
That started later. I would say I used it for myself first. I skipped school quite a bit, and when the teachers only accepted apologies from my mom’s email account, I hacked her account and apologized myself. Things like that.
And after the umpteenth apology you thought at some point: “Well, now it’s time for something productive.” Or?
Even later. Because it has a family background. At some point it was about how best to protect a very young male family member from what happened to me. A lot of questions and concerns came up that I didn’t know, because through my work I know how dangerous it can be for boys on the Internet.
For guys? More dangerous than for girls?
Many underestimate how many victims of abuse and grooming are male. I can immediately think of twelve sites in German-speaking countries that deal primarily with child pornography with male victims – and only one that prefers girls. This is a good example of the dimensions in which this is moving.
And that’s how your work came about?
Gradually, yes. At the very beginning I started to educate people about Instagram. It was quite harmless just why children should not be shown on the Internet.
Unfortunately too serious for Instagram
Is that what Instagram wanted? I do not think so.
In fact, I was the first to present these topics to a large audience on Instagram. It went viral extremely quickly, there was obviously a great need for such information. At the best of times, there were more than 100,000 followers, mostly parents. And yes – Instagram blocked me an incredible number of times. They don’t want to see any critical issues there, the world there is too colorful for that. That’s why I’m on Twitter now.
But it was the start of your sideline, right?
It was only through contact with people that the first cases came to me in which adults asked me for help if their children had already been victims of pedophile crime or if it looked like it could happen. It was often easy for me to identify the perpetrators or suspected perpetrators and the idea was born to offer this in general. Apparently, the judiciary was not a reliable contact.
Your Twitter account is less than a year old – and has over 50,000 followers. Was there a trigger that made you succeed so quickly there?
The case of the late doctor Lisa-Maria Kellermayr. I was the one who was able to identify two perpetrators who badly insulted and threatened Ms. Kellermayr. A lot of media reported on how easy it was for me – and how little the police had apparently done – and referred to me.
And that’s your main job now? Do you sit down at the computer in the morning with a coffee and start chasing criminals?
I am a full-time cyber security specialist in vulnerability management. I slip into the role of the hacktivist at the same time, which is like a part-time job for me. However, unpaid. We do receive donations, but they go to waste on the technology and in the end we pay the difference out of our own pockets.
The need is great
How many inquiries do you actually get?
So at least 20 every day, some of which are usually very serious. Of course we are asked if we can hack our partner’s smartphone or find out a lost password, but there’s a lot going on out there. Of course, we reject these trivial requests. The cases we take on then go into criminal investigation so that the victims can go to the authorities with more material to report the cases. Not always, but sometimes, we have to do a lot for this and also actively hack – i.e. exceed legal limits.
When was the last time you had to bring out the entire arsenal?
This was last the case in May with the YouTuber “Nature23”, whose channel is still available by the way. This is a self-proclaimed exorcist who lures children with mental illnesses and promises their parents to heal them. There have also been rapes. And all this via Youtube, unfortunately always without proof. Until we looked at the case and took over several email accounts, his whatapp, skype and telegram. And what we found there, we forwarded to the LKA.
And what did it end up as?
First of all, the LKA was grateful. Because the case, especially because of the mentally ill victims, is extremely difficult. However, we were able to find evidence of the torture of the girls, voice messages telling how he did it, and emails to parents, some with instructions to chain and lock up their children. Everything imaginable.
Wait a minute – and the parents accepted that gratefully?
I would not accuse the parents of malicious intent. They were mostly very religious people, who answered often enough that it was going too far. But there was also a mother who, on the advice of Nature23, wanted to cure her daughter’s epileptic seizures with a glass of water instead of taking the child to a doctor. I have to say that “Nature23” was by far my worst case so far. And unfortunately the perpetrator is still at large, although I can prove what he did and where he lives.
How can that be?
He operates nationwide. And that is a problem for the authorities, because the cooperation between the countries crunches enormously. Each case is processed separately and that takes forever. If he had done everything in Berlin he would already be in custody, I’m sure. We even have a request from Netflix just in case – while authorities are still working on it. I’ve talked to the LKA about it many times, but they told me that the right tools are still missing for such national cases. Especially since what we did wasn’t legal anyway.
“Of course we make ourselves liable to prosecution”
So you can say you’re making yourself punishable.
Absolutely yes. Fortunately, the authorities are very accommodating when it comes to such cases. I have good contacts at the LKA and BKA, with whom I enjoy working, who understand that the situation requires such measures if you want to stop such perpetrators. But I’ll be honest: If I get a penalty for it at some point, it’s worth it to me.
How do you rate the cooperation with the authorities?
LKA and BKA are great. There are also some very capable detectives. But: A lot has to be done at the lowest levels of the police force. Overall, however, you shouldn’t look at it so strictly. They are not allowed to use my methods.
Are there successes that encourage you in your work?
Luckily there are. For example, we were able to prove that a journalist from Sindelfingen uploaded child pornography to Russian platforms. After 30 minutes of research we had enough material for a house search. Or a case from Lower Saxony in which a perpetrator called several women and asked about sex contacts with children. He’s been in jail for 2.5 years now because we found out who that was.
I have to ask: How do you process that? Keep coming into contact with these blatant cases that also have a connection to your own past. How does it work?
Well, I thrive on success to be honest. Every criminal that I stop through my work gives me strength. The relief of the victims keeps me going. I try to hide it – and see myself as a tool for the helpless families that I can really help.
Evidence in the email inbox
Do you still believe in the good in people?
Yes, precisely because of my work. I don’t see the perpetrators or those who insult me every day and try to hurt my pride on this cheap sex track, but those who stand in the shadows – the victims. I hear so many stories and meet so many lovely people that it’s impossible for me to ignore the wonderful people out there. The bad people are always the loudest, unfortunately that’s the way it is.
What are your options? How transparent are you on the Internet?
It depends on how you behave online. If you leave traces and are careless – for example always use the same pseudonym – you can be found at some point. All it takes is a hacked database and an email and I can link a multitude of accounts connected to it. And if I also know that there is incriminating evidence in your mailbox, for example, I’ll take a look. That is also what the LKA or the BKA are not allowed to do without a court order and yes, that is legally complicated. But if I find evidence of serious crimes, it can be used in court.
How open is the net actually for someone like you?
As open as the person allows, to put it simply. Without any action on the part of the perpetrators – even if it is just a matter of negligence – hackers are also limited. So you don’t sit in front of three green screens, clattering around on the keyboard and voila. Trojans, defective links or social engineering are often involved, i.e. targeted manipulation of a person so that they let you access their computer, for example.
It helps to be a woman
Does your work sometimes benefit you from being a woman? Or do you pretend to be a man?
That would only have disadvantages, impersonating me as a man. I love being underestimated as a woman. That’s exactly what I want. I want to break the cliché, stand out from the crowd and also symbolize something. And I notice that as a woman, insults are usually only about this sexualization anyway – which doesn’t interest me at all. As a man, you are more likely to be subjected to violence, as strange as it sounds.
Let’s turn the tables at the end: How do you actually protect yourself from perpetrators?
Oh that’s easy: don’t share anything.
So easy?
And.
