Flashback:
– 1 in 4 US Hackers ‘Is An FBI Informer’ (Guardian)
– Law Professor: Counter Terrorism Czar Told Me There Is Going To Be An i-9/11 And An i-Patriot Act:
Lawrence Lessig, a respected Law Professor from Stanford University told an audience at this years Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Half Moon Bay, California, that “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event” which will act as a catalyst for a radical reworking of the law pertaining to the internet.
– LulzSec hackers charged after ringleader turns informant (USA Today, Mar 6, 2012):
Five alleged hackers have been charged with breaking into the computer systems of governments, corporations and media organizations after the reputed head of the LulzSec ring became an FBI informant, authorities announced.
Update at 7:15 p.m. ET: The original post overlooked the arrest of Jeremy Hammond, 27, of Chicago, who was charged with hacking into the systems of Texas-based Stratfor, which provides geopolitical and military analysis for governments, corporations, media and other clients.
Federal officials alleged that Hammond and other members of AntiSec, which is loosely affiliated with LulzSec and Anonymous, stole (completely worthless!) Stratfor employee e-mails and account information for about 860,000 clients. The so-called hacktivists allegedly stole credit card information for about 60,000 users, which they posted to a website, and made $700,000 in unauthorized charges, the Chicago Tribune says. WikiLeaks later published some of the 5 million e-mails pilfered from Stratfor in December.
Hammond, known online as “Anarchaos,” “tylerknowsthis” and “crediblethreat,” was arrested late Monday at his home in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood. During a federal court appearance today he was ordered transferred to New York to face prosecution.
Original post: Five members of the elite hacking group LulzSec have been charged with cyberattacks following an international investigation in a which a ringleader of the global organization began secretly working as an FBI informant, authorities announced today.
An indictment unsealed in New York says Hector Xavier Monsegur, of New York City, a legendary hacker known as “Sabu,” was charged with conspiracy to engage in computer hacking, among other offenses, and pleaded guilty in August.
Prosecutors say the five alleged hackers, Ryan Ackroyd, Jack Davis, Darren Martyn and Donncha O’Cearrbhail, are aligned with a loose confederation of computer hackers known as Anonymous and are responsible for breaking into computer systems at Fox Broadcasting Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment and the Public Broadcasting Service.
Read: The unsealed indictment
According to the court papers, Monsegur was an “influential member of three hacking organizations — Anonymous, Internet Feds and Lulz Security — that were responsible for multiple cyberattacks on the computer systems of various businesses and governments in the United States and throughout the world.”
Excerpt from the indictment:
Although the members of LulzSec and their co-conspirators claimed to have engaged in these attacks for humorous purposes (“lulz” is Internet slang which can be interpreted as “laughs,” “humor,” or amusement”), LulzSec’s criminal acts included, among other things, the theft of confidential information, including sensitive personal information for thousands of individuals, from their victims’ computer systems; the public disclosure of that confidential information on the Internet; the defacement of Internet websites; and overwhelming victims’ computers with bogus requests for information (known as “denial of service” or “DoS” attacks).
Monsegur then began cooperating with the FBI against other members of LulzSec, the group that he had created in May and which is accused of breaking into business and government entities worldwide, stealing confidential information and defacing websites.
Irish police say they have arrested one of the five suspects in Dublin.
Some alleged associates of the group are already facing charges elsewhere. An English teenager, Ryan Cleary, was arrested by the British in June. In July, a reputed LulzSec spokesman, Jake Davis, was arrested in Scotland, the Associated Press reports.
According to court papers unsealed today, Monsegur and others planted a fake story that slain rapper Tupac Shakur was alive in New Zealand in retaliation for what they perceived to be unfavorable news coverage of WikiLeaks on the PBS news program Frontline.
Original posting: LulzSec, also known as Lulz Security, and Anonymous have claimed responsibility for hacking into such companies and institutions as the CIA, Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency, Japan’s Sony Corp and Mexican government websites, Reuters reports.
Foxnews. com, in an exclusive report, says law enforcement officers on two continents nabbed three LulzSec leaders early today and charged two more with conspiracy.
It reports that two of those charged are from London, two from Ireland and one from Chicago.
Foxnews.com says the authorities were acting largely on evidence gathered by the organization’s leader who, according to unidentified sources, has been secretly working for the government for months.
“This is devastating to the organization,” an FBI official involved with the investigation tells Fox News. “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.”
Foxnews.com reports that was LulzSec was allegedly led by a 28-year-old hacker identified as Hector Xavier Monsegur, who used the Internet alias “Sabu.”
Foxnews.com says Monsegur, who operated out of a public housing project in New York City, was arrested last June and has been cooperating with the FBI.
Foxnews.com says an indictment in the case will be unsealed today in the Southern District Court of New York.