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List:       isn
Subject:    [ISN] F.B.I. Informant Is Tied to Cyberattacks Abroad
From:       InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews ! org>
Date:       2014-04-24 8:04:11
Message-ID: alpine.DEB.2.02.1404240803580.15832 () infosecnews ! org
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/world/fbi-informant-is-tied-to-cyberattacks-abroad.html

By Mark Mazzetti
The New York Times
April 23, 2014

WASHINGTON -- An informant working for the F.B.I. coordinated a 2012 
campaign of hundreds of cyberattacks on foreign websites, including some 
operated by the governments of Iran, Syria, Brazil and Pakistan, according 
to documents and interviews with people involved in the attacks.

Exploiting a vulnerability in a popular web hosting software, the 
informant directed at least one hacker to extract vast amounts of data — 
from bank records to login information -- from the government servers of a 
number of countries and upload it to a server monitored by the F.B.I., 
according to court statements.

The details of the 2012 episode have, until now, been kept largely a 
secret in closed sessions of a federal court in New York and heavily 
redacted documents. While the documents do not indicate whether the F.B.I. 
directly ordered the attacks, they suggest that the government may have 
used hackers to gather intelligence overseas even as investigators were 
trying to dismantle hacking groups like Anonymous and send computer 
activists away for lengthy prison terms.

The attacks were coordinated by Hector Xavier Monsegur, who used the 
Internet alias Sabu and became a prominent hacker within Anonymous for a 
string of attacks on high-profile targets, including PayPal and 
MasterCard. By early 2012, Mr. Monsegur of New York had been arrested by 
the F.B.I. and had already spent months working to help the bureau 
identify other members of Anonymous, according to previously disclosed 
court papers.

[...]



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