EDIT: Lulz Security Leadership Unmasked
Ryan Ackroyd (“Kayla”), from London
Jake Davis (“Topiary”), from London
Darren Martyn (“pwnsauce”), from Ireland
Donncha O’Cearrbhail (“palladium”), from Ireland
Jeremy Hammond (“Anarchaos”), from Chicago
An outspoken member of a loosely knit group of hackers that calls itself Lulz Security pleaded guilty to breaking into the computer systems of several prominent American companies, according to federal court papers unsealed Tuesday in New York.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, who operated under the Twitter handle The Real Sabu, was charged with 12 criminal counts of hacking into unauthorized computers, the Justice Department said. He made his guilty plea in August and has apparently been cooperating with law enforcement officials for several months.
The authorities unsealed an indictment of four people in Britain and Ireland who are suspected of being hackers and affiliated with Lulz Security, or LulzSec, which is an offshoot of the banner group called Anonymous. A fifth was arrested in Chicago on Monday night and charged separately.
The arrests suggest friction within the ranks of the “hacktivists” —hackers who back a political cause — who for the last two years have carried out attacks on companies like Sony, PayPal and most recently Stratfor, a geopolitical risk analysis company. They have also repeatedly targeted law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Mr. Monsegur ran his schemes out of a public housing project on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, according to the court papers. His last Twitter post on Monday evening, which was written in German, declared: “The revolution says I am, I was, I will be.”
The four charged in the indictment were identified as Ryan Ackroyd, known as Kayla, and Jake Davis, or Topiary, both of Britain; and Darren Martyn, known as Pwnsauce, and Donncha O’Cearrbhail, known as Palladium, both of Ireland. Jeremy Hammond, or Anarchaos, of Chicago, was arrested in Chicago; he belongs to an Anonymous node known as AntiSec.
Rob Rachwald, director of security at Imperva, a security firm, said the arrests were not unexpected. “They left a lot of electronic footprints and were not exactly careful about the information they were disclosing about themselves,” he said.
In June, LulzSec members admitted in a public chat room that they had revealed too many clues to their identities. “Sabu and I got a bit carried away and gave LulzSec away a bit,” read one post from Topiary.
Barrett Brown, who has spoken on behalf of Anonymous in past attacks, including the attack on Stratfor in December, said that his home in Dallas had been raided and that the F.B.I. had sent three agents to his mother’s house, where he stayed last night.
“I received an advance warning of the raid and put all my laptops in very specific places where they couldn’t be found,” Mr. Brown said. He said the agents left without making an arrest.
Mr. Brown said the arrests elsewhere would not slow down the Anonymous movement. “There are lots and lots of people here that continue to work. The F.B.I. did not really cut the head off of anything. Anonymous will go forward as usual. So will I. We hired an army of lawyers last January. We are prepared for a big slug-out.”
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/technology/lulzsec-hacking-suspects-are-arrested.html?_r=1
MORE
http://gizmodo.com/5890825/lulzsec-leader-betrays-all-of-anonymous
http://gizmodo.com/5890879/how-the-feds-turned-lulzsecs-leader-against-his-own
http://gizmodo.com/5890886/read-the-full-lulzsec-indictments-right-here
http://gizmodo.com/5890964/who-is-sabu
Ryan Ackroyd (“Kayla”), from London
Jake Davis (“Topiary”), from London
Darren Martyn (“pwnsauce”), from Ireland
Donncha O’Cearrbhail (“palladium”), from Ireland
Jeremy Hammond (“Anarchaos”), from Chicago
An outspoken member of a loosely knit group of hackers that calls itself Lulz Security pleaded guilty to breaking into the computer systems of several prominent American companies, according to federal court papers unsealed Tuesday in New York.
Hector Xavier Monsegur, who operated under the Twitter handle The Real Sabu, was charged with 12 criminal counts of hacking into unauthorized computers, the Justice Department said. He made his guilty plea in August and has apparently been cooperating with law enforcement officials for several months.
The authorities unsealed an indictment of four people in Britain and Ireland who are suspected of being hackers and affiliated with Lulz Security, or LulzSec, which is an offshoot of the banner group called Anonymous. A fifth was arrested in Chicago on Monday night and charged separately.
The arrests suggest friction within the ranks of the “hacktivists” —hackers who back a political cause — who for the last two years have carried out attacks on companies like Sony, PayPal and most recently Stratfor, a geopolitical risk analysis company. They have also repeatedly targeted law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Mr. Monsegur ran his schemes out of a public housing project on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, according to the court papers. His last Twitter post on Monday evening, which was written in German, declared: “The revolution says I am, I was, I will be.”
The four charged in the indictment were identified as Ryan Ackroyd, known as Kayla, and Jake Davis, or Topiary, both of Britain; and Darren Martyn, known as Pwnsauce, and Donncha O’Cearrbhail, known as Palladium, both of Ireland. Jeremy Hammond, or Anarchaos, of Chicago, was arrested in Chicago; he belongs to an Anonymous node known as AntiSec.
Rob Rachwald, director of security at Imperva, a security firm, said the arrests were not unexpected. “They left a lot of electronic footprints and were not exactly careful about the information they were disclosing about themselves,” he said.
In June, LulzSec members admitted in a public chat room that they had revealed too many clues to their identities. “Sabu and I got a bit carried away and gave LulzSec away a bit,” read one post from Topiary.
Barrett Brown, who has spoken on behalf of Anonymous in past attacks, including the attack on Stratfor in December, said that his home in Dallas had been raided and that the F.B.I. had sent three agents to his mother’s house, where he stayed last night.
“I received an advance warning of the raid and put all my laptops in very specific places where they couldn’t be found,” Mr. Brown said. He said the agents left without making an arrest.
Mr. Brown said the arrests elsewhere would not slow down the Anonymous movement. “There are lots and lots of people here that continue to work. The F.B.I. did not really cut the head off of anything. Anonymous will go forward as usual. So will I. We hired an army of lawyers last January. We are prepared for a big slug-out.”
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/technology/lulzsec-hacking-suspects-are-arrested.html?_r=1
MORE
http://gizmodo.com/5890825/lulzsec-leader-betrays-all-of-anonymous
http://gizmodo.com/5890879/how-the-feds-turned-lulzsecs-leader-against-his-own
http://gizmodo.com/5890886/read-the-full-lulzsec-indictments-right-here
http://gizmodo.com/5890964/who-is-sabu
