Cybercriminals or 21st century Robin Hoods?
Anonymous in disarray after major crackdown snares leaders
By David Goldman
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- In the U.S. government's biggest crackdown to date on a hacktivist group calling itself "Anonymous," four leaders and one other activist were arrested Tuesday and charged with a computer hacking conspiracy.
The U.S. Department of Justice also revealed Tuesday that it had snared the prime leader of an Anonymous offshoot group called LulzSec, which conducted a high-profile, two-month hacking rampage last summer against corporate and government targets.
The raids and arrests put the loosely connected hacking movement into disarray.
Several members who affiliate themselves with Anonymous claimed on Twitter to have been raided by federal authorities. A popular Anonymous Twitter account, @YourAnonNews, was continuously tweeting in response that the movement "doesn't have a leader," and is instead "an idea" that will "keep growing, adapting and evolving, no matter what."
What particularly set the movement on edge was the conviction and apparent turning of the LulzSec leader Hector Xavier Monsegur, known by his hacker alias Sabu.
The DOJ revealed Tuesday that federal authorities investigated the hacker suspects with help from a leader within the organization who had been secretly working with government officials. Fox News reported that Monsegur -- whom the DOJ said was arrested and convicted in August 2011 -- was that mole.
"We are done talking about Sabu," tweeted @YourAnonNews. "He is a person who is too scared for revolution. We will continue to fight and show that Sabu was no one."
Still, the group urged its followers to block Monsegur's Twitter account. That account abruptly stopped tweeting Tuesday morning with a final message: "Die Revolution sagt ich bin, ich war, ich werde sein," which is German for, "The revolution says I am, I was, I will be."
The four ringleaders arrested Tuesday were all close associates of Monsegur -- "close" being a relative term for alleged Internet criminals. Monsegur was from New York, two of the other leaders were from the United Kingdom, and two were from Ireland. The fifth, more loosely connected arrestee was from Chicago.
The hackers are facing a combined seven counts and a maximum of 105 years of jail time, according to an indictment unsealed by a federal court.
Monsegur pled guilty to twelve counts in August, including computer hacking conspiracy, fraud and aggravated identity theft. The DOJ says he faces up to 124 years in prison, but that will likely be reduced due to his cooperation with authorities.
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