This is pretty epic, the big buzz last week was all about Sabu and how he was a traitor to LulzSec and Anonymous.
Now most people think things like these only happen in the movies, secret arrests followed by strong-arm tactics to make the perp turn and be an informant for the feds. Sounds like a line straight out of the The Shield or Homeland.
It turns out the LulzSec leader was arrested some time last year and has been an informant for the FBI since then
In a major break for law enforcement, several members of the LulzSec and Anonymous hacking groups were arrested this morning based on information provided by “Sabu,” the shadowy LulzSec leader who was secretly arrested last year.
Sabu, LulzSec’s main spokesman who was identified today by FoxNews.com as Hector Xavier Monsegur, has been working as an informant for the FBI since his arrest. Those arrested today included a member of the AntiSec hacking group who is believed responsible for the massive intrusion at security think tank Stratfor last December.
News of the arrests, was first reported by FoxNews.com this morning. A law enforcement official in New York today confirmed the arrests and said that six hackers belonging to the Anonymous, LulzSec and Antisec groups were nabbed in U.S. and overseas locations. The official described those arrested as “principal members” of Anonymous and LulzSec.
The U.S. Department of Justice has scheduled a press conference this morning to release further details on the arrest, the official said. According to FoxNews, the FBI arrested two men from Great Britain, two from Ireland, and one from Chicago.
An indictment listing the charges is expected to be unsealed today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, FoxNews said.
A whole bunch of arrests were made today based on the information Sabu has been feeding to the feds, some pretty serious characters were taken down. Apparently Sabu was caught in the first place because of a rookie mistake – he logged onto IRC just once without using Tor and exposed his real IP address.
That was all it took for the feds to hunt him down and leverage him as an informant, and the fact he has kids – and well who wouldn’t want to stay out of prison for their offsprings?
FoxNews.com described Monsegur as an unemployed 28-year old father of two who apparently coordinated with thousands of hackers around the world from a room in a public housing project in New York’s Lower East Side. Monsegur, who was arrested by the FBI last year, pleaded guilty to several charges related to his hacking activities and has been a cooperating witness since then, according to Fox.
LulzSec, an offshoot of the Anonymous hacking collective, is believed to be responsible for numerous attacks against government, military and commercial entities. The group is said to be responsibile for a series of attacks last summer for a series of attacks against News International, Booz-Allen Hamilton and other high-profile organizations.
After the FBI arrested several members of Anonymous last July, LulzSec and Anonymous released a joint statement vowing not to let the arrests dampen their hacking attacks and daring law enforcement to catch them.
“We are not scared any more,” the joint statement had read. “Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea.”
Sabu appears to have been arrested by the FBI shortly after that boast.
News of Sabu’s arrest prompted several tweets from Anonymous this morning, including one that threatened retaliation. “The way Sabu & gang took control of Anonops.. anonops gonna retaliate,” the tweet said.
Sabu seems to have working from the FBI office, maintaining his online habits and conversations since August last year – whilst the feds sneakily collected information from the people he was talking to.
He even got busted last month for pretending to be a Federal Agent.
It’ll be interested to see how this pans out and if many more arrests will be made.
Source: Network World
Bogwitch says
“No honour among thieves.”
Sabu was caught after a single slip up of NOT using TOR to connect to IRC. I’m sure the deal he got from the FBI will not keep him out of prison but would have reduced the sentence he would have been due to receive.
It may mean the end of Lulzsec but it will not mean the end of Anonymous. I firmly believe there are competent hackers in the sidelines that will pick up the mantle. That said, there will be a lot of Anonymous will be put off by the arrests.
A single failure of OpSec by Sabu brought him and a few others down. The lesson to the rest of anonymous will be clear, trust no-one, watch your back and be careful.
Darknet says
Indeed, and like Anonymous likes to say “We will not be stopped, you cannot arrest an idea”.