‘Chopping Off the Head’: How LulzSec Ringleader Devastated the Hacktivist Group by Working With the FBI
- Posted on March 6, 2012 at 12:17pm by
Liz Klimas
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- The ringleader of the “hacktivist” group LulzSec was found by the FBI in the summer 2011 and plead guilty to charges Aug. 15
- Since then, Hector Xavier Monsegur — or going by his hacking name “Sabu” — agreed to help the FBI find other computer hackers within the group
- Five other hackers were identified by Monsegur
- Monsegur was charged with attacks on Visa, MasterCard, Paypal, the U.S. Senate, PBS, Fox Broadcasting and several other government computer systems
Hector Xavier Monsegur (Photo via Fox News)
NEW YORK (The Blaze/AP) — A group of expert hackers who attacked governments and corporations around the globe has been busted after its ringleader — one of the world’s most-wanted computer vandals — turned against his comrades and secretly began working as an informant for the FBI months ago, authorities announced Tuesday.
(Related: LulzSec hackers say they’re disbanding)
Five people were charged in court papers unsealed in federal court in New York, and authorities revealed that a sixth person, Hector Xavier Monsegur of New York, has pleaded guilty.
These arrests are what Fox News reports one FBI official as saying is “devastating to the organization” and compares it to “chopping off the head” of this hacktivist group.
Monsegur was portrayed in court papers as the ringleader, a legendary figure known in the hacking underworld as “Sabu.“ Authorities said he formed an elite hacking organization last May and named it ”Lulz Security“ or ”LulzSec.“ ”Lulz“ is Internet slang that can be interpreted as ”laughs,“ ”humor“ or ”amusement.”
Despite the organization’s lighthearted name, authorities said Monsegur and his followers embarked on a dastardly stream of deeds against business and government entities in the U.S. and around the world, resulting in the theft of confidential information, the defacing of websites and attacks that temporarily put victims out of business.
Their exploits included attacks on cyber-security firms and the posting of a fake story that slain rapper Tupac Shakur was alive in New Zealand.
As their exploits became known, some hackers associated with the group boasted about their prowess.
Monsegur was charged with conspiracy to engage in computer hacking, among other offenses. Authorities said he pleaded guilty Aug. 15. Since then, Monsegur who worked as a “rooter”, a computer hacker who identified vulnerabilities in computer systems, has been working as an informant for the FBI. Fox News has more on in a separate article about how the authorities located Monsegur after he failed to conceal an IP address when logging into a chat room and what led him to rat out his fellow hacktivists:
The agents worked their prey, using the time-honored good cop/bad cop routine. Bad cop stormed out of Monsegur’s apartment yelling, “That’s it, no deal, it’s over, we’re locking you up.”
The computer genius finally gave in, surrendering to the most clichéd tool in the law enforcement arsenal. But the agents had more than just skills – they had leverage.
“It was because of his kids,” one of the two agents recalled. “He’d do anything for his kids. He didn’t want to go away to prison and leave them. That’s how we got him.”
According to the court papers, he was an “influential member of three hacking organizations — Anonymous, Internet Feds and Lulz Security — that were responsible for multiple cyberattacks on the computer systems of various businesses and governments in the United States and throughout the world.” Here’s what Anonymous has said on Twitter in response to this news:
The court papers said Monsegur participated in attacks over the past few years on Visa, MasterCard and PayPal; government computers in Tunisia, Algeria, Yemeni and Zimbabwe; Fox Broadcasting Co. and the Tribune Co.; PBS; and the U.S. Senate.
As an FBI informant, Monsegur may have been a bit mistaken as to his actual role with the FBI. Gawker (via Buzzfeed) reports that in February, Monsegur tried to tell a New York police officer that he was an FBI agent:
On the evening of Feb. 3, an NYPD officer encountered 28-year-old Monsegur at a Lower East Side apartment in New York City. When the cop asked Monsegur for identification, the criminal complaint alleges, he replied, “My name is Boo. They call me Boo. Relax. I am a federal agent. I am an agent of the federal government.”
[...]
But Monsegur couldn’t produce an official ID, and when the officer followed up with the FBI they told him Monsegur wasn’t actually an agent. Monsegur was charged with one count of second degree criminal impersonation, a misdemeanor.
Irish police said Tuesday that one of the five suspects had been arrested and was being held at a Dublin police station. They refused to release his name, in keeping with police force policy.
LulzSec is a spinoff of the loosely organized hacking collective Anonymous. Its members attained notoriety last May by attacking the PBS website and posting the false story about Shakur.
According to court papers unsealed Tuesday, Monsegur and others planted the fake story in retaliation for what they perceived to be unfavorable news coverage of Wikileaks on the PBS news program “Frontline.”
Some alleged associates of the group are already facing charges elsewhere. An English teenager, Ryan Cleary, was arrested by the British in June. In July, a reputed LulzSec spokesman, Jake Davis, was arrested in Scotland.
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cyclops
Posted on March 11, 2012 at 3:04amNo matter how a prank gets started, there will always be an element of “what if?” Curiousity sets in and and the desire to experiment kicks in. From the experiment phase, the high daring phase sets in and the mind starts to focus and branching out, seeking a target. Small targets were looked at and penetrated. From there bigger targets were attempted and the rush of success kicks in. Unsatisfied urges came into play and much more bigger targets were seeked. Personal and collectively claimed to fame from an accomplishment kicks in and justification then came in a form of an ideology. From then, onwards “to infinity and beyond” became the endless passion…
I will always respect an honest IT worker but those of you who are causing damage to IT’s all over the world in these bad hacking schemes, I do believe that you do have “an addiction” and you have “no passion” anymore for good old honest IT work.
Report Post »cyclops
Posted on March 11, 2012 at 3:10amdelete “endless passion.”…………………I mean to say “endless obsession.”
Report Post »Copper Catfish
Posted on March 8, 2012 at 7:55amWhy has the FBI “outed” him? Surely they know this is a death sentence. Then who will take care of his children?
Report Post »Cat_Ion
Posted on March 7, 2012 at 9:01amCan a teleprompter feed be hacked?
Report Post »Just wondering.
Kerstile
Posted on March 7, 2012 at 2:31amI would add that I find the use of the Guy Fawkes masks as supportive of my previous statement. These “children” that are Anonymous are all romantics who watched a movie (“V For Vendetta”) and seized its premise: “you cannot kill an idea” (paraphrase, don’t feel like looking it up) says the character wearing the Fawkes mask.
Anonymous is childlike in its idealism. Its members think they have something unique which is laughable. They have so much technical knowledge, but so little real learning of history and culture. Civilization originated from chaos. The chaos beckons civilization’s members from time to time to return to chaos bosom, and succeeds in its recruitment efforts when life is easy and there is plenty to eat.
Report Post »Kerstile
Posted on March 7, 2012 at 2:19amJust as the poor will always be with us, the anarchist will be also. Anarchists have plagued humanity since the beginning. They exist in all cultures at all times. @D-FENCE says they are just the tip of the iceberg and is both correct and incorrect. Anarchists are in the tip, the main body, the glacier that originated the berg and in the water that precipitated to form the glacier. Anonymous infuses existence. They are a part of humanity that lies within each of us. Who amongst us does not want to be completely free, unrestrained by anything on Earth or in Heaven? For the faithful, Anonymous is the spawn of Satan, tempting and cajoling weak individuals to perform acts of, for lack of a better word, barbarity. When “Anonymous” states “we are an idea” that cannot be killed, they are merely stating a fact that we all should know. Indeed “we” “are” Anonymous. It is a part of us all and fortunately, most of us keep our Anonymous under tight control with the power of our minds and our faith. Anonymous rears its nasty little head during times of plenty, when the State takes care of so many things for us and we become bored, jaded and cynical. Today is just such a time.
Report Post »joey59
Posted on March 7, 2012 at 1:52pmAppreciated your brief but astute commentary on the current state of our nation.
Report Post »Kerstile
Posted on March 8, 2012 at 9:27amThanks for the compliment, Joey59. Very much appreciated.
Report Post »Wartface
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 4:15pmKarma… Oh she can be a mean unforgiving thing.
This guy knew what he was doing was illegal, hurtful and financially devastating to those whom he attacked.
The right thing usually happens… Eventually! Send his ass to jail and put his kids in foster care.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 2:44pm.
Report Post »I Hate a Rat…..
Mark0331
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 3:44pmExactly…not condoning what he did, he just couldn’t shut up and ratted out his crew…He is the definition of a rat. You know he knows that he is a rat. Thinks about it every time he lays his head down. R A T
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 4:17pmSounds like a Case… for the Defence of ENTRAPMENT!
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 5:32pm@ Lukerw
Report Post »I read the article. I didn’t see anything that would indicate entrapment. Are you basing your assertion on a different source?
JohnnyMidknight
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 6:27pm@ lukerw
You need to learn what Entrapment is… Entrapment is when a police officer pressures you to or tells you it is okay to commit a crime, you do it, and they arrest you.
It is not illegal for the ringleader to turn informant. Nor is the ringleader an officer of the law. Besides, the crimes committed by the group are crimes they would have committed none-the-less. Therefore, it is not considered entrapment. Also, you have to know the person is a law enforcement agent. An undercover cop can tell you it is okay under the assumption by the person committing the crime that the cop is someone he/she is not. IE The cops can lie when undercover and tell you they are not a cop and it is okay for you to sell them drugs. If you commence in selling the drugs, entrapment would not carry. The officer would have to have told they were a cop or be in uniform telling you it is okay before entrapment would be considered. And, no a cop does not need to tell you they are one when questioned and they are undercover. That is an urban myth, and one the cops love.
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 7:31pmYou wouldn’t call him a rat if he hacked your info!!
Report Post »ME
Posted on March 7, 2012 at 1:45pm100% RAT
“It was because of his kids,” one of the two agents recalled. “He’d do anything for his kids. He didn’t want to go away to prison and leave them. That’s how we got him.”
That is how law enforcement does its job and is proud of it. How long till they are asking your kids to rat on you. Does Dad have a secret place for his (guns, food ect…) Using people like this is, is about making sure you know you are a slave and will stay that way. If you defend this crap I truly hope its your family they target next, you deserve it. With millions of pages of laws we all know your breaking one of them right now. Can I ask your kids???
Report Post »D-Fence
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 2:41pmFolks, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on March 6, 2012 at 2:38pmtalk about biting the hand that feeds ya. hates the USA who is currently paying his bills. what a flipping loser no suprise he is not going to do anything with his talent but sit on his rump and collect his free things. I wish I had skills like his I definately wouldn’t be wasting it.
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