[Article first published as FBI Arrests LulzSec Hackers with Help of Former
"Leader" on Blogcritics.]
Just one time.
After being cautious about covering his tracks, all it took
was just took one time logging into IRC without masking his IP address for the
FBI to find where Hector Xavier Monsegur was. Monsegur, also known as
Anonymous and LulzSec member Sabu, had been stalked by Federal agents with no
success since the public emergence of LulzSec last spring. After a cliché
good cop/ bad cop routine like we're all used to seeing on television crime
drama, Monsegur finally gave in, leaving under the custody of Federal agents.
That was last summer, after a month long hack-a-thon that brought down a number
of organizations in the financial sector, entertainment companies like Fox and Sony, as well as Federal
Government agencies including the CIA. Eventually in August Monsegur
plead guilty to 12 counts of computer hacking and conspiracy, as well as
charges filed in connection with the hacks at HBGary Federal, Fox Broadcasting,
Infragard Members Alliance and PBS. The guilty pleas of not only Monsegur
but five other hackers was released today in a press release by the FBI, citing over 1 million victims and
additional hacks against Stratfor and International Law Enforcement.
Monsegur's cooperation led to the arrests of the other
hackers named in the FBI press release - hackers known as Topiary, Kayla,
Pwnsauce, Palladim, lolspoon and Anarchaos were also charged. After over
a year of chasing their tails, this arrest was a tremendous victory for the
FBI, who were under a great deal of pressure to find the perpetrators, themselves
still nursing a black eye from multiple hacking operations. According to Fox News, they had already subpoenaed his Facebook account,
found stolen credit card numbers, and had enough to charge him with aggravated
identity theft, carrying a 2 year sentence if convicted. The FBI saw more
value in him as an informant with his ties to LulzSec, so they dug in.
"They did a heck of a job in hunting down the ringleader and turning him
around so they could go deeper into the stack," said Rich Mogull, an analyst at Securoris. "This is
classic law enforcement."
While these hackers are mentioned as leadership in the
hacking group Anonymous, Sabu himself being referred to as the leader of
LulzSec, Anonymous maintains what they have always claimed - that they are an
ad-hoc, leaderless organization that will survive and remain at full
strength. Taking to the twitterverse, @YourAnonNews and @AnonOps both had
the following statement
via tweet: #Anonymous Is an idea, not a group.
There is no leader, there is no head. It will survive, before, during, and
after this time.
There's no telling how many more hackers or associates of
LulzSec and Anonymous will be arrested thanks to Monsegur's help. As such
Barrett Brown, more or less the public face for Anonymous, branded him a traitor for cooperating with Federal
agents. In his words: "My apartment was raided this morning by the
FBI. Feds also came to another residence where I actually was. Sabu is a
traitor. #Anonymous." On a
pseudo-related comedic note, he did get so deep into his role
as an FBI informant that he tried to pass himself off as an FBI agent to police. On top of
everything else, he picked up a second degree impersonation charge.
I don't believe for a second that this is going to be the
end of Anonymous. Even if their claims of being a leaderless organization
are false, and Sabu did in fact hold some sort of leadership role, the contacts
Sabu turned over to the FBI will only get them so far. While the
perpetrators of past crimes may end up being behind bars, that's no guarantee
that future perpetrators can be caught before something else goes off.
Anonymous and other related hacking groups have a near-infinite pool of young
bored technologists and disgruntled nerds with a great deal of skill. So
far this looks like just a black eye in return served by the Feds.
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