FBI Arrests LulzSec and Anonymous Hackers 289
Velcroman1 writes "The FBI arrested two alleged members of the hacking collectives LulzSec and Anonymous on Thursday morning in San Francisco and Phoenix. Search warrants were also being executed in New Jersey, Minnesota and Montana, an FBI official told FoxNews.com. A document purported to come from the FBI leaked online earlier this month called these hacker groups a national security threat. One individual was described as part of the LulzSec group, the other belongs to the group that calls itself Anonymous, the official said. The suspected hacker arrested in California is homeless and alleged to have been involved in the hacking of Santa Cruz County government websites."
Well... (Score:2)
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It's PR control by the law enforcement. Arrest a few people here and there and no one really makes a fuss... Arrest hundreds of people at one time and people start questioning what's happening...
Bullshit. Arrest hundreds of people at one time and it's called a "crackdown." The Fibbies have done it before, and they'd do it again in a heartbeat if they knew enough.
And people would applaud it if they did. The Anonymous clowns have done a lousy job of drumming up sympathy for their supposed cause. What they call "protests" come across as stupid childish pranks and vandalism, because nobody took responsibility, nobody stood up for the "cause." (Real sit-ins have people lining up to be arrested and decli
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Lets add the word 'corrupted' to that "Law Enforcement". Conspiracy charges are typically what is used when there is no real evidence that an individual has actually committed a crime but instead they are going for sounds like, looks like they might have charges. Also police, only police the laws, they absolutely do not enforce the laws (this is the delusion of ignorant crew cut jock thugs in uniform) the courts enforce the laws.
A lot of countries reject conspiracy laws because inevitable 'Law Enforceme
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You sound like you're 15.
"Conspiracy" is a pile-on charge in this case (Score:3)
They are charging him with "causing intentional damage to a protected computer." But since he did it in coordination with others, they can add the "conspiracy to" charge as well.
Conspiracy is also used when people are planning a crime, and there is clear evidence of such, but they haven't yet commited the crime. If you don't like this concept, maybe you'd rather the police sit back and let a group plotting to kill you do it so the prosecutor can get actual murder charges instead of just conspiracy to murder
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Those guys wanted to stick to to the man and buck the system. They knew what they were getting into, or at least they should have. It was well known even back in the 1990s that the Feds and corporate America had zero interest in actually securing their systems. The systems are wide open (more or less), but the punishment for accessing them without permission is draconian. There is a reason I got out of the "computer underground" when I turned 18. I had my mischievous fun when I was a minor and then I s
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Or the first rounds of kids they picked up in the UK and US started rolling over on others. Which would be a bit... humorous. We know that many of the ones at the top know each others identities. And it wouldn't be entirely surprising, given that they nailed the important kids first. Ideologies can degrade quickly when you're being held by the authorities and looking at a prison term.
The important take-away here is, Anon is not some leaderless collective of political activists. There is a top, and the
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They arrested a homeless guy as a nefarious hacker. I guess he has such mad skillz he just thinks about the hack and it happens even if he doesn't have an internet connection, running water, or a bathroom.
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They arrested a homeless guy as a nefarious hacker. I guess he has such mad skillz he just thinks about the hack and it happens even if he doesn't have an internet connection, running water, or a bathroom.
"Homeless" just means he doesn't own a home or rent an apartment. It doesn't mean he sleeps in a gutter or shelter. Julian Assange likely fits this definition.
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That use of the term homeless is a bit unconventional if technically correct.
News Headlines For Tomorrow (Score:2, Funny)
Tonight we get to hear from our security expert why the FBI website has gone down. More at six.
Oh No!!! Not Our Website!!! How Will We Survive? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, that's part of the hilarity with these lulsec/anonymous kids. They keep picking fights with ginormously powerful entities which would not think twice about tossing them into small cells at the bottom of a deep holes, yet they seem to feel these Death Star Agencies and Corporations will back off due to the punks' mad skillz with internet servers.
In Chicago, they call that "bringing a knife to a gun fight."
Re:Oh No!!! Not Our Website!!! How Will We Survive (Score:5, Insightful)
No, the point is it is funny. That is it. Anonymous is in it for the lulz. If some of the horde gets taken out nobody really cares.
Also "LulzSec" are actually pretty terrible at hacking. Most of it is really low rent exploits and social engineering which is why it is so amusing how much "damage" they have caused. The only thing that makes them a cut above a thousand other minor hackers is that they are publicising it, which is exactly the best way to piss the corporations off. They don't care that much about the intrusions, just that their customers are finding out how unsafe these "trusted" companies are.
P.S. The real dangerous hackers live in non-extradition countries and have thugs with guns at hand. They aren't scared of the FBI.
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P.S. The real dangerous hackers live in China and have thugs with guns at hand. They aren't scared of the FBI.
There, fixed that for you ^_^
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I don't think hackers means what you think it means.
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Yours is the most intelligent comment so far, and spot on.
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That's because when you get ten Anonymous together, you'll have twelve different opinions. The media will (of course) cite the most newsworthy sounding statements, not "I'm just bored" or "I wonder whether we can take 'em down".
Oh yes indeed.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Oh yes indeed.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose.
Re:Oh yes indeed.... (Score:4, Insightful)
There is nothing of greater threat to national security than a HOMELESS hacker. Though I guess it is good as any excuse to get such riff-raft off the curbs. Why just the other day I saw this homeless person and immediately thought; you know, that person is probably a real threat to my countries security and needs FBI involvement to justify their jailing.
It's easier to go after the kiddies than to address the real threats, such as the Russian mafia or whoever is doing the stuff from China.
Re:Oh yes indeed.... (Score:4)
False dichotomy alert. Lets stop going after shoplifters, hackers, and wife beaters, until we've taken care of the mafia, drug lords, and crazy dictators with nukes.
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I'm totally with you, but I don't think you take it far enough. I demand that shoplifters, hackers and wife beaters be pursued by FBI, but also CIA, NSA, DEA and FDA as well. You can never be too careful about them national security threatening shoplifting terrorists!
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Lets stop going after shoplifters, hackers, and wife beaters, until we've taken care of the mafia, drug lords, and crazy dictators with nukes.
Lack of common sense alert. The FBI isn't usually called in to deal with shoplifters or domestic violence.
Otherwise, I would say that's a pretty accurate sentiment. I don't see why we need to bother with bored kids exposing potentially embarrassing information which barely makes it onto the radar of our everyday lives when there are really evil bastards out there with private armies and the keys to shit like Zeus and such.
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More like let's not claim we're fighting terrorism when we bag a couple petty shoplifters at the mall, and certainly do not (literally!) make a federal case of it..
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"It's easier to go after the kiddies than to address the real threats, such as the Russian mafia or whoever is doing the stuff from China."
Yes it is. Obviously they should go after both, but sometimes you have to make do with the ones you can get. That's life.
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It's easier to go after the kiddies than to address the real threats, such as the Russian mafia or whoever is doing the stuff from China.
Yeah but Russia and China are economic partners, a homeless dude doesn't contribute to the national coffers.
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Re:Oh yes indeed.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Despite the political rhetoric, you don't get arrested for your potential threat, you get arrested for an alleged crime. Pretty simple concept.
If I spray-paint "My mom's a whore call here at 555-1212" on the side of your car, I broke the law. It doesn't matter if I'm homeless or not.
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Re:Oh yes indeed.... (Score:4, Funny)
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Despite the political rhetoric, you don't get arrested for your potential threat, you get arrested for an alleged crime. Pretty simple concept. If I spray-paint "My mom's a whore call here at 555-1212" on the side of your car, I broke the law.
And no one's mom will get arrested (or even investigated) for prostitution.
FYI, her number seems to be disconnected.
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Despite the political rhetoric, you don't get arrested for your potential threat, you get arrested for an alleged crime. Pretty simple concept.
It's not cost-effective to arrest people for alleged crimes, unless it's violation of copyright, and they can be scared into coughing up lots of money. You arrest people for future crimes that will cost you money. Try not to forget that we're talking about capitalist society here. Everything comes back to money at some point.
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I called the number.
Totally disappointing.
Is your mom a robot or something?
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No, but if you have no arms or legs and you're confined to a hospital bed, it does lead people to question how likely it is that you were on a mad vandalism spree.
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Yes. This was all about the homelessness. The hacking part had nothing to do with it.
I can't begin to imagine why this has been moderated as "Insightful."
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As it is, the homeless are often stalked and harassed by the cops(predators like to practice in between the real hunts) and even beaten and manslaughtered by the law or gangs of masked, steroid-addled MMA freaks.
And surprise, surprise - Obama will pull the troops out o
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The question is HOW did this homeless guy supposedly accomplish this nefarious hack? Does he have a secret evil lair in the sewers filled with computers and hijacked internet connectivity?
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Maybe he holds a cardboard sign that says "will hack for booze", then someone hands him their laptop and says "lets see it" then he goes all slappity slap on the keyboard and BAM!, "swordfish" was the password.
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The suspected hacker is homeless and alleged to have been involved in Santa Cruz County government website cyberattacks...
So, hacking county government websites is ok, just so long as you are homeless? Is that how it works?
Or is your objection that county police werent involved in an internet crime?
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There is nothing of greater threat to national security than a HOMELESS hacker.
Homeless doesn't mean "unskilled." It may simply mean "unemployable." Morris County shelters see growing number of white-collar professionals becoming homeless [nj.com]
But are we looking at deep poverty here or a cyberpunk fantasy?
Feds: Homeless Computer Hacker Launched 'Anonymous' Attack Over Anti-Camping Law [talkingpointsmemo.com]
After 23 nights, an area near the county courthouse steps is filled with sleeping bags, coolers, food, books, backpacks and other personal belongings campers have brought with them.
Homeless campers plead with Santa Cruz city leaders to change sleeping law [santacruzsentinel.com]
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A friend of mine was homeless. The only homeless guy I knew who wore $1,000+ suits and drove a Mercedes. He was traveling so much he just decided not to pay for a place he'd barely ever use.
A few years ago I couldn't imagine going without a permanent residence, but the rise of smartphones, netbooks, tablets, flat-screen TVs, Hulu/Netfix, etc., has seen me reconsidering that position quite a bit, lately. These days, when I'm tr
I am wondering (Score:5, Interesting)
How they know the homeless guy did it, yes I know its not impossible for people to get on a computer, but unless the guy had a freaking home office in his box its probably going to be on shared computers
this will be interesting when there is more than a 1 paragraph blurb
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That would be a homeLESS office in his box, you insensitive clod.
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How they know the homeless guy did it...
The homeless guy is alleging he did it. May be, he just wants a hot meal and free health care for the next twenty years. If that's the case, kudos to him for getting himself upgraded to Federal prison. I hear Federal prison is much better than State prison.
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This is why I quietly laugh at all the folks who say they'd do their torrenting / hacking from a coffee shop. Timestamped logs + CCTV footage + credit card receipts = arrests.
Low-hanging fruit & lazy Feds. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Of course! Chinese hackers, industrial spies and bank defrauders don't broadcast it or make it public and make the FBI look like inapt idiots. They are, essentially, no threat to the FBI funding, and hence no problem. They're basically in the same game, keep it under wraps and everyone's happy.
A lesson to learn (Score:4, Interesting)
He got caught because he REGISTERED his username on the internet. This breaks rule #1 of the internet, what's posted cannot be unposted.
I was reading the court indictment wondering if they were somehow able to trace a proxy after the fact of use, which with something like TOR is quite the feat, but no, dude signed up to hidemyass.com, used the SAME user name, and thus will now meet Bubba in prison. Ah, the world of hacking, a mistake, and its your ass.
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This further confirms my lack of conviction that they have caught anyone of importance at all... Who's word are we going on here that these guys are big kahunas anyway?
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One very effective policing technique is to catch small fish and entice them to roll on the bigger fish. Also, if more small fish get caught the big fish may stop out of self preservation.
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National Security threat modeling (Score:2, Insightful)
If national security can be threatened by Anonymous or Lulz, it seems to me we don't have much in the way of national security.
Indictment signed by 4Chan? (Score:2)
In the article, on the last page of the indictment, the foreperson is signed as "/s/"
I know "/b" is the virtual home of Anonymous, but never knew that "Beautiful Sexy Women" was filled with so much government powers. Explains a lot, actually...
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Up next we'll see indictment's by pedobear.
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It takes one to know one...?
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*Zing* I guess you have no idea how courts, or law work.
homeless hacker (Score:2)
Where can you plug your notebook in on the street?
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There's a working outlet on the flower planter bed in front of the store I work at. I see people stop to charge their phones quite often.
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Where can you plug your notebook in on the street?
Have you never heard of Wifi? Or you just plug it in at the same place where you get your booze.
The real question however: how did the FBI know it was him? Whatever method of connection he used was certainly being used by other people too...
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Where can you plug your notebook
Have you never heard of Wifi?
Many notebooks also require electrical energy. ;)
homeless != on the street (Score:2)
Homeless does not necessarily mean on the street. It could also mean "of no fixed address". Someone who couch surfs among a group of friends every few days or weeks is considered "homeless" but still has a place to stay and an internet connection to use.
Heh Heh..... (Score:2)
"He who lulz last, lulz best"
Finally! (Score:2)
SQL injection? Really? (Score:2)
Is nobody embarassed by the fact that the website of a big organization can be affected by something as simple as an SQL injection?
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Must not be important news (Score:2)
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Hackers Win (Score:2)
Our government really does not need to get into opposition with a pile of skilled hackers. The hackers may well win. Further the revelations released by outfits like Wikileaks seem to offer far more good than bad to the American public. Maybe we can get past the point where we have people in government who do nothing but lie and spread manure to foreign governments. Why not simply make government completely transparent. Are we to really believe that our nation can only exist if we lie, sneak about
Good. (Score:2)
I routinely get modded down for this, due to the particular fairly blinkered "pro-cracktivist" attitude at Facebook. The old notion that "disagreeing with something is not a valid reason to mod someone down" goes completely out the window on this issue. But the Anonymous/LulzSec "hacktivists" are actually criminals and should be investigated and arrested if found.
Sometimes their intentions have been relatively "noble", other times it has seemed to be mainly for the lulz. In any case, society does not accept
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first post ?
Congratulations! You win a misguided sense of pride!
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Hi Dave!
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Dave's not here man.
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I know you're a big fat liar cause I'm Dave
-Dave
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No, thats not what homeless means. Homeless means you dont have a permenant residence-- you could be at a shelter, or moving from friend's house to friend's house, or you could be "on the streets", or any number of other possibilities.
Seeing as hackers tend to need internet access, Im guessing its one of the first two.
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Internet access is available here via the public library. Electricity is also available at no charge.
I can only guess that the same situation exists elsewhere.
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'Homeless' is not the opposite of 'homeowner'. Renters for example, are not 'homeless'.
At least not in the US.
Re:Hang Them (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not willing to claim they are all "activists." But there is certainly an activist component to what they do.
And at the same time, power hates being stood up to. Stand up to the MafiAA, stand up to the abusive assholes at Sony, stand up to abusive cops who don't like the idea of being caught on video shooting a handcuffed homeless guy in the back, caught beating up a special ed kid [youtube.com], or try to get a 75-year charge on someone for recording them [reason.com].
So it's not surprising the FBI are engaged in what many will see as an overreaction. Especially when they need to be "seen to be doing something" to look good for their corrupt politician bosses.
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Stand up to the MafiAA, stand up to the abusive assholes at Sony, stand up to abusive cops who don't like the idea of being caught on video shooting a handcuffed homeless guy in the back, caught beating up a special ed kid, or try to get a 75-year charge on someone for recording them.
No sense of proportion, a culture of victimhood.
The MafiAA, as some like to call it, simply stands between the geek and his free movie fix and the ego boost that comes with sharing files with 15,000 of your closest friends on the P2P nets.
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They do such a good job at stopping them, and they're such good people. What I think is "wrong" is factually wrong!
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The MafiAA, as some like to call it [...]
They call themselves that, troll: http://mafiaa.org/ [mafiaa.org]
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Not only do two wrongs make a right, they're one of very few things that can, when the entity committing the initial wrong is not much less powerful than the initial wronged entity.
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No, two wrongs do not make a right. However, it has been proven, with blackboards full of numbers with squiggly symbols and shit, that 2 wrongs squared, divided by the square root of 1 minus the universal gravitational constant, times the indefinite integral of fuck you, do.
Except in boolean logic. (Score:2)
Except in boolean logic.
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It all depends on how you define "wrong" to begin with. Certainly, if someone believes that what they and someone else did was "wrong," that would be correct.
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2 wrongs don't make a right,never has never will.
But in New Jersey, 3 rights make a left [wikipedia.org].
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What about the government officials who set up the insecure website? Aren't they a threat to national security, too?
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What about the government officials who set up the insecure website? Aren't they a threat to national security, too?
Government officials don't setup websites anymore. That was outsourced to India who charge about the same but garentee much lower quality.
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I would have thought being homeless was a pretty darn good evasion method.
My thought exactly.
Wonder what the warrant said... "Frequents the corner of 5th and Highland" ? "Drives an unmarked grocery basket"?
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10 questions from slashdotters to Anonymous
1. What kind of shopping cart do you use? Is it equipped with that gadget to tell you which aisle the beans are at?
2. Did the Feds hack into that gadget (using VB, etc) to find you?
(you are invited to add more)
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I would have thought being homeless was a pretty darn good evasion method.
I suppose it's more of a living with a friend and not paying rent kinda thing. Article gives no further information that I can see.
Just think how would you do it? The first thing you do is track the IP address. Probably led them to an library, school, internet cafe, McDonald's, .... Once there, watch and record the IP traffic at that location until you have both your suspect and your case against the suspect.
I'm sure that homeless are as much creatures of habit as the rest of us.
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I would have thought being homeless was a pretty darn good evasion method.
Why? It's not like the police have no experience tracking down homeless people.
FREE KEVIN! (Score:2)
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Damn Frenchies. I need some Freedom Fries!
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