lulz

Australian police arrest alleged leader of LulzSec hacking group

The Australian Federal Police has reportedly arrested a man who describes himself as the "leader" of the LulzSec hacking group.

The 24-year-old man was arrested on hacking charges Tuesday in the coastal town of Point Clare, according to ABC News Australia, which first reported the arrest. The report did not reveal that man's identity.

The arrest comes two weeks after three members of hacker group pleaded guilty in a British court to carrying out cyberattacks against various media and entertainment companies and the U.K. National Health Service.

LulzSec emerged on the hacking scene in 2011, claiming … Read more

LulzSec hackers plead guilty to attacks on Sony, Nintendo, more

Three members of hacker group LulzSec have pleaded guilty in a British court to carrying out cyberattacks against various media and entertainment companies and the U.K. National Health Service, according to media reports.

Ryan Ackroyd, 26; Jake Davis, 20; and Mustafa al-Bassam, 18, today all pleaded guilty to a computer hacking-related charge at Southwark crown court in London. They will be sentenced May 14 along with Ryan Cleary, who pleaded guilty to cyberattacks last year.

Ackroyd, who went by the hacker name "Kayla," admitted to trying to hack into several Web sites, including Sony, Nintendo, News Corp.'… Read more

Sentencing of LulzSec double agent postponed

Hector Xavier Monsegur, better known by his nom de plume "Sabu," was slated to face sentencing in New York City today for his role hacking into public and private Web sites as one of the hacktivists operating under the LulzSec label. All told, he faces a maximum time behind bars of 124 years associated with his guilty plea on ten counts of bank fraud and one count of identity theft.

But Monsegur, who subsequently worked as a double agent for the FBI, still awaits his fate. The authorities abruptly postponed his sentencing. No explanation was offered.

His cooperation … Read more

A peek behind the mask: Anonymous' 'Topiary' speaks

The mask has come off on at least one member of Anonymous.

The Guardian.com has published a lengthy profile of the group and Jake Davis, a Scottish teenager who used the handle "Topiary" and acted as one of Anonymous' spokesmen before he was arrested in July 2011.

The profile offers readers little that we didn't already know about the group, although the author does give us some nice glimpses of a few prominent members of Anonymous and the well-known splinter group LulzSec.

Davis is almost exactly the sort of person many critics of the group expected … Read more

Second accused LulzSec hacker arrested in Sony breach

A second suspected member of the LulzSec hacker group has been arrested for his alleged role in a 2011 network security breach at Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Raynaldo Rivera, 20, of Tempe, Ariz., surrendered to authorities today in Phoenix, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. An indictment unsealed today charged Rivera with conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. He faces 15 years in prison if convicted.

Cody Kretsinger, of Phoenix, was indicted last September in connection with the attack and has pleaded guilty, the FBI said.

Rivera, who is allegedly known by the monikers "neuron&… Read more

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.

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 … Read more

Anonymous, LulzSec spawn hacker crew offshoots

It's been three months since the arrest of a handful of people accused of conducting denial-of-service and other attacks on police and corporate networks as part of the notorious LulzSec hacking crew.

Yet rather than laying low following the arrests, hacker activists are still going strong and, in fact, regrouping, taking up the baton from the Lulz crew or citing dissatisfaction with the schizophrenic nature of all the various Anonymous operations. Suddenly, there is "LulzSec Reborn," "MalSec," and "SpexSec," fresh names for groups of malicious hackers using old techniques.

It's unknown if … Read more

Crime and punishment: Harsh fate for accused LulzSec hackers?

The Anonymous defendants arrested last month for allegedly breaking into corporate networks, stealing data, and defacing Web sites as part of LulzSec are likely to have an extended vacation at Club Fed, experts say.

With well-known victims like Sony, Fox Broadcasting, and the FBI, prosecutors will want to make examples of those arrested in the Anonymous-related hacking cases in the hopes that it will send a message to others.

"I believe they will (get harsh treatment)," Michael Bachmann, assistant professor of criminal justice at Texas Christian University, told CNET in a recent interview.

Like Kevin Mitnick, who was … Read more

U.S. 'not winning' war with hackers, says FBI bigwig

With hackers around the world taking aim at business and government sites seemingly at will, one would think the FBI would have a solution. Think again.

Speaking to The Wall Street Journal in an interview published yesterday, FBI executive assistant director and cyber czar Shawn Henry said that despite recent arrests of alleged hackers "Sabu" and others, "we're not winning."

It might be hard to argue with Henry's assertion. Although dozens of hackers have been arrested worldwide, the attacks keep coming. Earlier this week, for example, hackers took aim at a military dating Web site … Read more