Top members of hacking group Anonymous arrested after LEADER 'betrays them

[Serpo]

Top members of hacking group Anonymous arrested after LEADER 'betrays them and works with FBI for six months'




Leader of computer hacking group LulzSec identified as unemployed dad-of-two Hector Xavier Monsegur
Secretly arrested last June and pleaded guilty to hacking charges in August

Has reportedly been working with FBI to bring down top hackers ever since

Court papers released Tuesday portray him as ringleader of hacking groups
Five members from UK, Ireland and US face charges


By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)

Last updated at 7:38 PM on 6th March 2012



(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2111020/Top-members-hacking-groups-Anonymous-LulzSec-arrested-leader-Sabu-turns-in.html#comments)







Top members of computer hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec have been arrested across two continents after their leader - one of the world's most wanted computer vandals - turned them in.
In a startling show of betrayal towards his fellow hackers, 28-year-old Hector Xavier Monsegur led authorities to the five people who have now been charged in court papers in New York.
Dad-of-two Monsegur, who has pleaded guilty to a dozen hacking-related charges, is portrayed in court papers as the ringleader of LulzSec, and an 'influential member' of Anonymous.
Ever since his arrest last June, he has reportedly been working with authorities to bring down the groups' top hackers.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-120D7B14000005DC-730_634x473.jpg Betrayal: The leader of hacking group LulzSec has been identified as Hector Xavier Monsegur. Since his arrest last June, he has reportedly been working with the FBI to identify other members

The suspects reportedly include four LulzSec members - two men from Great Britain and two from Ireland - and one member of Anonymous - an American named Jeremy Hammond from Chicago.
Three were arrested and two were charged with conspiracy, Fox News reported. Hammond was arrested and appeared before a federal judge in Chicago before he was transferred to New York.

'This is devastating to the organization,' an FBI official told the channel. 'We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.'


More...



Bin Laden WAS NOT buried at sea, but sent to the U.S. for cremation, leaked emails reveal (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2111001/Bin-Laden-WAS-NOT-buried-sea-sent-U-S-cremation-leaked-emails-reveal.html)


The hackers have claimed to be responsible for a number of attacks on large companies, law enforcement and government agencies, including the CIA, FBI and Sony.
They are believed to have caused billions of dollars in damages to corporations, banks and agencies.
Members attained notoriety last May by attacking the PBS website and posting a story claiming rapper Tupac Shakur was alive and living in New Zealand.


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-11E790C9000005DC-100_634x406.jpg Caught: The information he provided reportedly led to charges for five top members across two continents. Four worked for LulzSec and one for Anonymous, whose supporters wear Guy Fawkes masks, as pictured

The group was allegedly led by Monsegur, who works under the alias of Sabu. The unemployed father of two was living in New York's Lower East Side when he was seized by authorities.
They found his address after logging into a chatroom without masking his IP - the address which shows a user's whereabouts.
Authorities launched surveillance and watched him for weeks - but were forced to move when a rival hacker revealed Monsegur's identity online.
LULZSEC AND ANONYMOUS


Anonymous is the umbrella term used to represent an internet subculture – a collection of online individuals, or 'hacktivists', who share common ideas of anti-censorship and freedom of speech on the internet.
They have carried out cyber attacks on Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Amazon, and have threatened to take down Facebook and Twitter servers.
Although it is not formerly affiliated with it, the group has connections with the lesser-known hacking group LulzSec.
LulzSec, short for Lulz Security, is an offshoot of Anonymous and some members have been parts of both collectives .
LulzSec is an elite computer hacker group that has claimed responsibility for several high-profile, debilitating cyber attacks.
Their big hits include the compromising of user account data from Sony Pictures and taking the CIA website offline.

They also attacked Fox.com, leaking the names of more than 7,000 X Factor contestants, and the PBS Newshour website, where they posted a story claiming that slain killer Tupac was still living and in New Zealand.
The group aims to cause mayhem as well as manipulate flaws in security and passwords systems.


Fearing he would destroy his hard drives - and thus evidence needed to prove his guilt - they arrested him in June last year. He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of hacking charges on August 15.
His records were unsealed today, charging him with conspiracy to engage in computer hacking, among other charges.
The court papers describe him as an 'influential member of three hacking organizations — Anonymous, Internet Feds and Lulz Security — that were responsible for multiple cyber attacks on the computer systems of various businesses and governments in the United States and throughout the world'.
They claim he acted as a 'rooter', a computer hacker who identified vulnerabilities in computer systems.
As part of Anonymous, court papers claim he took part cyber attacks from December 2010 until last June, including attacks on Visa, MasterCard and PayPaul, and further attacks on government computers in Tunisia, Algeria, Yemeni and Zimbabwe.
As part of Internet Feds, he is alleged to have participated in attacks against businesses including HBGary Inc., a private security firm and Fox Broadcasting Co.
And he is accused of forming LulzSec last May with other hackers, who then attacked Sony, PBS and the United States Senate, among others.
Monsegur was free on $50,000 bail.
Also charged in court papers with conspiracy to commit computer hacking were Ryan Ackroyd and Jake Davis from Great Britain, and Darren Martyn and Donncha O’Cearrbhail of Ireland.
Two of the men, who are all suspected members of LulzSec, were arrested on Tuesday, while Davis and Martyn have already been arrested.
Fox claims Monsegur has been feeding authorities information about LulzSec ever since his arrest, bringing them down from the inside.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-120DFB81000005DC-474_306x383.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-120DFB65000005DC-661_306x383.jpg

Questions: Jerermy Hammond from Chicgo, Illinois (left in 2009) and Donncha O’Cearrbhail of Ireland (right)





http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-0D412F4000000578-79_306x361.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-0CD3E0D100000578-994_306x361.jpg

Charges: Sources named Jake Davis (left), from the United Kingdom, as one of the hackers facing charges. English teenager Ryan Cleary, (right) already faces hacking charges, allegedly as part of LulzSec
Yet he has continued to be a public face for the movement, tweeting to his followers on Monday: 'The federal government is run by a bunch of f****** cowards. Don't give in to these people. Fight back. Stay strong.'
In August, 2011, it came to light that Anonymous had hacked into 70 law enforcement websites, mostly local sheriffs’ websites in Missouri.
The hacks had occurred four weeks before the discovered. Using information passed on by Monsegur, the FBI was able to work with the server company to mitigate the damage, Fox claims.



'He was an admired Anon. He's been a leader. People came to him with information. God knows what else he told them'




The FBI then alerted 300 government, financial and corporate entities around the world to potential vulnerabilities in their computer systems.
Stories have also emerged about Sabu's far-reaching power. When the CIA found itself under siege from LulzSec hackers, Sabu, working for the government, told them to stop, and they did.
'He's a rockstar,' a New York-based hacker told Fox. 'All the girls, you buy them a drink, but all they want to talk about is Sabu, Sabu, Sabu.'
Barrett Brown, a former journalist who became closely associated with Anonymous, said Sabu's betrayal would have a serious effect on the group.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/03/06/article-2111020-11E779E3000005DC-248_634x414.jpg Mass damage: The hacking group Anonymous, whose logo is pictured, is believed to have caused billions of dollars in damages to corporations, banks and government agencies

'He was an admired Anon,' he told AP. 'He's been a leader. People came to him with information. God knows what else he told them.'

The arrested member of Anonymous, Jeremy Hammond from Chicago, was arrested on charges of hacking and device access fraud.
He reportedly caused the hacking of Stratfor Security Intelligence, which led to the leak of 200GB worth of emails then published on Wikileaks.
Fox sources said Hammond will be charged in a separate indictment, and they described him as a member of Anonymous.
Some of the alleged associates of the group are already facing charges elsewhere.
In July, reputed LulzSec spokesman, 18-year-old Jake Davis, was arrested in Scotland. Sources named him as one of those facing charges in New York.
Another English teenager Ryan Cleary, was arrested by British law enforcement in June and charged with being linked to the group.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2111020/Top-members-hacking-groups-Anonymous-LulzSec-arrested-leader-Sabu-turns-in.html#ixzz1oQ4UNa1Q

[Twisted Titan]

when you revolt do it on a personal level.......any organization can be infiltrated

[7th trump]

A dark skin..............how typical!

[Glass]

I wonder how much of this is legit? 4 of the guys are not anon as per the story and 1 of them is, but is he/they?

At face value it's a wimp out. Keyboard cowboy. I think the anon thing is interesting but I can't see the purpose in their actions. It seems random but I guess they need vulneralbilities to exploit so that's up to opportunity. I think there are other ways an outfit like that would operate. Perhaps it's a symptom of the way they are operating. Failing to mask an IP if you are going to use a persona is a pretty bad slip up IMO. anyway I don't know much about this part of the undernet although I have seen the other side of this kind of behaviour first hand. I'm sure plenty of us have.

[Awoke]

Traitor or Fall-guy?

I support Anonymous.

[Spectrism]

These seem to be little terriers nipping at the heals of vampires. The vampires used on of the dogs to rat out others and stomped on them so that the masses would not be awakened when the vampires came to town.

TT is right. Be alone in anything important you do. Have no partners and you will have no betrayal. Anyone who goes into business with a partner is asking for trouble. It is a good reminder.

[Glass]

Press Release: Stratfor hack NOT Anonymous



Emergency Christmas Anonymous Press Release
-------------------------------------------
12/25/2011
THE STRATFOR HACK IS NOT THE WORK OF ANONYMOUS
Stratfor is an open source intelligence agency, publishing daily reports on data collected from the open internet. Hackers claiming to be Anonymous have distorted this truth in order to further their hidden agenda, and some Anons have taken the bait.
The leaked client list represents subscribers to a daily publication which is the primary service of Stratfor. Stratfor analysts are widely considered to be extremely unbiased. Anonymous does not attack media sources. In this excerpt from Time, there is a brief description of how Stratfor analysts uncovered a possible US backed coup in Iraq preceding the US invasion.
"In the past month Stratfor has drawn attention to a carefully assembled open-source report that asserted that last month's attack on Iraq wasn't intended just to punish Saddam Hussein for blowing off U.N. weapons inspectors. By sorting through thousands of pieces of publicly available data--from Middle East newspapers to Iraqi-dissident news--Stratfor analysts developed a theory that the attacks were actually designed to mask a failed U.S.-backed coup. In two striking, contrarian intelligence briefs released on the Internet on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, Stratfor argued that Saddam's lightning restructuring of the Iraqi military, followed by executions of the army's Third Corps commanders, was evidence that the coup had been suppressed. Predictably, U.S. officials said the report was wrong."
Stratfor has been purposefully misrepresented by these so-called Anons and portrayed in false light as a company which engages in activity similar to HBGary. Sabu and his crew are nothing more than opportunistic attention whores who are possibly agent provocateurs. As a media source, Stratfor's work is protected by the freedom of press, a principle which Anonymous values greatly.
This hack is most definitely not the work of Anonymous.
We are Anonymous
We do not forgive
We do not forget
Expect us

link to PR. (http://pastebin.com/8yrwyNkt)

note the date. It also answers some of my questions.

[iOWNme]

The best part is most GSUS members called Anonymous out as CoIntelPro on day 1 of their 'hacking'. Good job GSUS, keep it up!

[Glass]

ok. so who is running wikileaks now? I gotta pay more attention.

[Awoke]

I am personally of the belief that Anonymous is real. Their saving grace (that they are indeed anonymous) is also the achilles heel for them. With them being forced to maintain a protective shroud of anonymity from TPTB, it opens the door to agents and agencies to work FF hacks, or release provocateuresque material, while claiming to be the official "Anonymous".

So when I read stories or watch youtube vids or whatever, that have some robotic voice saying revolutionary dialogue, I always remind myself it could very well be the CIA, FBI, BATF, Mossad, NSA (or whoever) pretending to be "Anonymous". In fact, most times that someone claims to be anonymous, and forewarns that they are going to do this or that on a certain date, I automatically assume cointelpro.

I think the PTB do this to discredit the real Anonymous, because the real Anonymous scares the shit out of them.
I have found that Anonymous usually does their hack first, and then releases their confession and motivation afterwards. Either that, or I just haven't been getting the notifications. lol.


I think the anon thing is interesting but I can't see the purpose in their actions

They (and we) are not fit to revolt with any real persuasion because TPTB own and control the MIC and the NWO gangs (Cops). They (and we) would have a hell of a time in a gunfight against unmanned predator drones, robotic dogs with miniguns, tanks, helicopters and swat teams firing at us in an out-and-out battle. But Anonymous understands that the PTB are completely reliant on technology to keep their web of command and control.

TPTB also have their own version of a saving grace/achilles heel, and that is compartmentalization. Their web is only controllable if the wwweb is up and running, and orders can be transmitted immediately. Without instant communication, TPTB are almost impotent. Anonymous are a talented group of hackers, probably containing people with tech-savvy from all walks of life. They can and have brought down multiple PTB-owned websites at the same time. I have no doubt that they have the know-how to bring down cellular and internet communications as well. IMO, Anonymous are fighting back they only way they can without ducking bullets, so I support them in spirit.

[SLV^GLD]

Anonymous is not an organization; it is an idea.

Anyone, anywhere can subscribe to the idea.

[Glass]

I agree Awoke. When I made that post I hadn't seen the Anon denial so was including it in their actions. This was why I said
I can't see the purpose in their actions. It turns out it wasn't their action. It didn't fit the MO to my mind.

There's a war on. Some one's gotta be on the front lines.

[madfranks]

So when I read stories or watch youtube vids or whatever, that have some robotic voice saying revolutionary dialogue, I always remind myself it could very well be the CIA, FBI, BATF, Mossad, NSA (or whoever) pretending to be "Anonymous". In fact, most times that someone claims to be anonymous, and forewarns that they are going to do this or that on a certain date, I automatically assume cointelpro.

I think you're absolutely right about this.

On a side note, I recently finished the book "Ghost in the Wires" about legendary hacker Kevin Mitnick and his exploits. Once he got caught he did hard time in solitary confinement, now runs his own company. Good book about hacking, imo.

[Hatha Sunahara]

But logically, Anonymous--the word--means 'wishing to keep one's identity unknown'. So, anyone who wishes to keep their identity unknown is anonymous. No name associated with it. When you have someone named LulzSec, that person is not anonymous--that person has a name. Any hacker, revolutionary, or counterintelligence operator who claims to be Anonymous is exactly that until they are identified by a name.

What I see here is an attempt by the government to create a perception among the population that some dissidents in cyberspace have been apprehended and put out of business, and the world is once again safe from anti-government 'organizations'. But Anonymous isn't an organization. It is leaderless resistance. It is like Al Qaeda. It doesn't exist as an organization. It is a mental construct. It is a label anyone can assume. The FBI cannot kill it because it is an idea. Just as SLV-Gold above points out.

I think the FBI understands that, and what they are doing is the same strategy they are using for setting up young muslim men as patsies for bombing plots the FBI concocts to create the impression that they are fighting 'terrorism'. Only here they are fighting 'cyberterrorism' which is just another word for exposing secrets about TPTB on the internet.

I think we will see more 'hackers' being 'foiled' and arrested by the FBI and other 'Law Enforcement' agencies who are desperate to justify their existence. Every bureaucracy involved in some kind of 'war' is desperate to justify their existence.


Hatha

[Awoke]

Normally I agree with everything you post Hatha, but not in this case.

The group of hackers is Anonymous to the public and (hopefully) the establishment, however among each other they know who they are to a point. The group has to unify, communicate and plan, and work in concert with each other for the larger hack jobs.

When they bring down multiple PTB sites at the same time, it is a concerted effort. It is not a bunch of individuals that harbour a similar "idea" or "mindframe" who happen to be working alone, happen to be hacking separate sites, happen to be working in a leaderless resistance environment. I didn't bother replying to SLV^GLD's post, because I agreed with half, that anyone anywhere can subscribe to the idea.

Anonymous is an organization, or at the very least, a network. To say otherwise is absurd.
I agree with the fact that anyone can embrace the "mental construct", Lord knows I do, but not anyone can be a hacker, working with other hackers in perfect cohesion. I personally am just as anti-establishment as the most dissenting hackers in anonymous, if not more, yet I can't just do what they do because I accept the same mindframe.

[Hatha Sunahara]

I just wonder how the government approaches these people when they identify them. With bribes or threats.? Do they offer the informant a well-paying government job, or do they offer him immunity from prosecution?vvThis is a good example of how the FBI operates. If they are after an organization, and they can identify one important member, they can kill the entire organization simply by co-optng that one member into an informant. They'll let you off or reward you if you turn in your friends.

I'm not sure how any organization can protect itself from that. It all depends on how loyal the informant is to the organization or to his own personal interests. The government co-opts individuals to kill organizations. The only way I know of to defeat this strategy the government uses is to 'compartmentalize' everything the organization does. This is where nobody knows anything more than what they have been asked to do. No names. No plans. So, when they grab somebody, all that person has to do is quit performing for the organization, and they get written off--and they cannot tell the FBI anything of value to them.

What I would think is far more effective in sabotaging a tyrannical power is a secret (not anonymous) organization where all the members are sworn to deny that any organization exists. Such an organization should be able to organize impromptu operations by developing a network of sympathizers who are able to help--sort of like the ' French underground' in WW II, or what the Mossad does with 'Sayanim'. The media uses the term 'sleeper cells' when describing Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda, however is their creation which they control. They haven't really come across a real opposition that is organized to exploit their weaknesses. This is a war where the more intelligent and better disciplined power will win. The only advantage a tyrant has is that he is supported by the 'money power'. That may not be enough if the tyrant pisses off too many people. Tyrants are usually full of hubris and arrogance, and make mistakes.


Hatha

[SLV^GLD]

I can engage in acts in the spirit of this so called organization known as Anonymous and never reveal my identity, thereby remaining anonymous.

Believe it or not, anonymity used to be all the rage on the internet and was the hallmark of it. People researched, collaborated and implemented entire projects without ever knowing each others' name, gender, location or age. I know because I was there doing it myself. You will find much of this ethos still in the open source development world where you just happen to find the the type of talent which lends itself best to the activities of this so called organization known as Anonymous.

Facebook, myspace, Google et al are by design antithetical to the power of an anonymous internet. The centralization of the communication infrastructure is also related to this antithesis.

[Serpo]

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2012/03/anonymous-brings-down-vatican-website.html

[Awoke]

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2012/03/anonymous-brings-down-vatican-website.html

Really...




In fact, this corrupt organization known as the Catholic Church has proven to be the cause of all world poverty, famine, crimes and slavery and evidence of this is surfacing worldwide.

The 5th columnists have infested the Vatican, no doubt, but to say that the "Catholic Church" is wholly responsible for all the woes of the world is nothing less than cointelpro/scapegoating. We have proven who the 5th columnists are (the BLT's) and shown that the Vatican is only one suction cup on one tentacle of the BLT Octopus.

[DMac]

http://www.vaticancrimes.us/2012/03/anonymous-brings-down-vatican-website.html

Interesting page - I decided to see who is behind it. Some Spanish television personality named Alvaro Albarracin.

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/vaticancrimes.us

His website:
http://www.albarracin.com/

Apparently this guy Alvaro is a cultist, believing the second coming of Christ has happened and he is here, now. De Jesus (the second coming of Christ who is here on Earth now per Alvaro (damnit I missed the memo)) is the leader of the cult, which is named Creciendo en Gracia.
http://www.msdomainer.com/2007/12/alvaro-albarracin-cults-and.html

Linked in profile:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Alvaro/Albarracin

[JDRock]

A dark skin..............how typical!
yep, that jumped right out at me too....

[Glass]

Two hackers plead guilty to LulzSec attacks on Web sites

Two British men pleaded guilty today to conspiracy charges related to a spree of attacks on U.S. and U.K. government and corporate Web sites by the LulzSec hacking group last year.
Ryan Cleary, 20, and Jake Davis, a 19-year-old who used the hacker handle "Topiary," admitted to launching distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on Web sites including Sony, Nintendo, News International, Arizona State Police, HBGary Federal and PBS, according to The Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9354188/LulzSecs-Ryan-Cleary-admits-hacking-into-CIA-and-the-Pentagon.html).
Cleary pleaded guilty to four additional charges, including hacking into U.S. Air Force computers at the Pentagon. He was indicted by a U.S. federal grand jury (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57452849-83/u.s-indicts-brit-ryan-cleary-for-fox-pbs-hacks/) earlier this month on charges related to hacking into the Web sites of Fox, PBS and Sony Pictures. It is unclear if prosecutors in the U.S. will try to extradite Cleary to face those charges. His lawyer says she would fight extradition because her client has Asperger's Syndrome, according to The Associated Press (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57459880-501465/two-lulzsec-hackers-plead-guilty-in-london-court/).
Meanwhile Ryan Ackroyd, a 25-year-old who allegedly used the handle "Kayla," and a 17-year-old who was not named because of age but has been associated with the handle "T-Flow," pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charges. They will face trial April 8, 2013, according to The Telegraph. All the defendants were released on bail, except for Cleary.
All four pleaded not guilty to two counts of encouraging or assisting others to commit computer offenses and fraud. They were accused of posting stolen data to public Web sites. Southwark Crown Court official Gryff Waldron told the AP that prosecutors are still deciding whether to bring Cleary and Davis to court on those charges.
.............

.............
Separately, Jeremy Hammond, aka "Anarchaos," was arrested in Chicago in March and charged with crimes related to the December 2011 hack of Stratfor, a global intelligence firm. He is not alleged to be a member of LulzSec.



Full story @ CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57460084-83/two-hackers-plead-guilty-to-lulzsec-attacks-on-web-sites/)