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How FBI Informant Sabu Helped Anonymous Hack Brazil
Daniel_Stuckey (2647775) writes 'A year after leaked files exposed the National Security Agency's efforts to spy on citizens and companies in Brazil, previously unpublished chat logs obtained by Motherboard reveal that while under the FBI's supervision, Hector Xavier Monsegur, widely known by his online persona, "Sabu," facilitated attacks that affected Brazilian websites.The operation raises questions about how the FBI uses global Internet vulnerabilities during cybercrime investigations, how it works with informants, and how it shares information with other police and intelligence agencies.
After his arrest in mid-2011, Monsegur continued to organize cyber attacks while working for the FBI. According to documents and interviews, Monsegur passed targets and exploits to hackers to disrupt government and corporate servers in Brazil and several other countries. Details about his work as a federal informant have been kept mostly secret, aired only in closed-door hearings and in redacted documents that include chat logs between Monsegur and other hackers. The chat logs remain under seal due to a protective order upheld in court, but in April, they and other court documents were obtained by journalists at Motherboard and the Daily Dot.'
After his arrest in mid-2011, Monsegur continued to organize cyber attacks while working for the FBI. According to documents and interviews, Monsegur passed targets and exploits to hackers to disrupt government and corporate servers in Brazil and several other countries. Details about his work as a federal informant have been kept mostly secret, aired only in closed-door hearings and in redacted documents that include chat logs between Monsegur and other hackers. The chat logs remain under seal due to a protective order upheld in court, but in April, they and other court documents were obtained by journalists at Motherboard and the Daily Dot.'
Someday someone will get him back just for the lulz
Using Anonymous as a by-proxy hacking tool. Brilliant! I'm surprised the NSA hasn't...
oh crap
Stupid enough to work for the government... end of story.
What's the alternative? Life in prison? I'm sure the govy will go out of their way to make their stay comfortable.
Recently there was an article about how the FBI was having problems recruiting competent IT talent due to their zero tolerance policy with marijuana.
Apparently that problem has been solved. All they really need to do is arrest the people who have the skills that they need, and then coerce them into doing the work that needs to be done.
We all know that the prison system is often tapped as a source of unskilled and low skilled labor. Obviously this is just taking that model to a new level. What's next? Mass incarceration of bitTorrent users who will then be forced into the life of skript kiddies in exchange for money on the books at the Club Fed commissary?
Attacking GOVERMENT servers under FBI guidance??? WTF is an internal north american police agency doing messing with brazilian goverment sites?? Omg, long time I dont care to login in slashdot to post something, but here it is:
VA SE FUDER US goverment
Fucking with my country supporting a military coup and keeping those murderers in power for 30 years wasnt enough? You are trying AGAIN to undermine a democratic goverment just because we have a non automatic alignment policy with the US on foreign affairs? Just because we supported democraticaly ELECTED Chaves and others in south america? All american authorities should be considered persona non grata in Brazil, and ALL US goverment agents related to FBI and NSA should be imediately ARRESTED in brazillian soil. I am tired of american goverment double face with friendly nations
Quite another to create constructively useful things in the art & science of computing.
APK
P.S.=> Giving this complete ASSHOLE "Sabu" any type of press is utterly ridiculous... why? See what I wrote above, & "nuff said"... apk
Why do we continue to build Sabu into something he wasn't. He was just another angry script kiddie. This is no better than people making 'weev' out to be a hacker.
Given that hacking is considered an act of war, did the FBI just help wage war against another nation? Shouldn't they need someone to give them the ok before they go around the world causing trouble for everyone but the people they were supposed to catch?
Seriously, WTF, US government agencies? Did I miss the announcement of "opposite decade"?
We have the DoJ obstructing justice by intentionally destroying evidence;
we have the BATF running guns to Mexican cartels;
we have ICE taking captured illegals out of local police custody and setting them loose on the streets;
we have the NSA spying on the single target off limits to them, with a true patriot under asylum in fucking Russia for pointing that out...
And now we have the FBI coordinating cyberattacks on the government of another country?
Can we just stop pretending, and admit the government has absolutely no interest whatsoever in obeying the will of We The People?
VA SE FUDER US goverment
(Posting anon to maintain mods.)
I can't decide whether to moderate this +1 Flamebait or -1 Regrettable But Understandable.
... or vice versa.
I will add a minor correction for you, It is always important to recognise the reality of what is going on. Simply blaming the government of the US, is not really accurate, that aligns too much of the fault to the bulk of the citizens of US (although they are most definitely partially to blame). You need to call it the Corporate States of America. Basically the US government and it's Agencies corruptly taken over to further the interests of psychopathic US corporate executives not just US corporations but Multi-National Corporations (so not even just Americans).
Your war is not really with the US government at all, just with the Corporations that run it and those psychopathic corporate executives and the major investors who run those corporations. So cut of the head of the snake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S... and the problem will go away. Don't blame or fight the puppet, the US government and it's agencies, get rid of the puppet masters examples like the Koch(head) Boys, and the problem will go away as the bulk of US citizens regain control of their own government. Help them, save you, from themselves.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
I agree with your points, but will add that there were a few other motives. One I believe is a bigger target than Brazil.
1. Anonymous was a pain in the ass to corrupt US corporations and Government agencies. If you remember, US sites were being hacked and defaced for the same exact reasons claimed for defacing Brazilian sites. Anonymous was leaking classified documents implicating US agencies of war crimes and corruption, civil rights violations against OWS and other activist groups. In other words, a primary motive was attacking anonymous members to slow down their campaign in the US. IMHO "Sabu" is full of shit in his exit statement from the courts. Anonymous was the primary target because they are a threat to the corrupt insiders in the US.
2. Fuck with non-US aligned countries. Brazil was a target, but so was Syria, Pakistan, Iran, and Nigeria. Turkey and Pakistan are mentioned, but I'm guessing those were real targets of anonymous because they are corrupt and not a traditionally vocal allies of the US. Interestingly "US" is omitted from this information but was the reason they arrested Sabu to begin with. That they could fuck with so many countries was a huge side effect of number 1, but not the primary motive. Notice after all of these arrests, Anonymous greatly reduces the attacks against US companies and Government agencies. Notice too that the vocal allies of the US are omitted from these attacks (UK, Germany, France, Spain, etc...).
3. As someone else mentioned, including Sabu in his exit statement, this a case of the FBI trying to make themselves look good. I come to that conclusion because there are exactly 2 very brief mentions in TFA about the legality of the FBIs actions and neither are direct.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
A fight between 2 anonymous people. While entertaining for a while, we are always left wondering if the person is schizophrenic and is it crowded in your head? Worse than that however, is that we never have a clear winner. Well, I say "HIT HIM WITH YOUR PURSE YOU CRAZY BASTARD(S)!"
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
This has actually been happening for a very long time, but I'm glad to see that more and more people are waking up to the game. I also think that things are escalating in terms of corruption so it's getting easier for people to see.
If anyone has doubts (not you per say), look at how many people were arrested for the blackmail campaign against Ross Perot, in fact be amazed at how much media coverage it received. Look at the Iowa primary issues with Ron Paul, and be amazed at how he was treated by media (my kid at 11 years old figured that out on his own, I was proud). The Franklin Cover Up is another great piece to study, and lets not forget about Operation Mockingbird, COINTELPRO, The Clinton Chronicles, and wholly fuck I could really make a long list so will stop by stating this: There are plenty of investigative books and articles on the corruption in the US going back to the 50s at least.
It takes public awareness to incite change, so start waking people up to what's going on any way you can.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
You forgot funding of "rebels" by the CIA in, not limited to, but including the Middle East and Africa.
Never forget: September 11th.
Yes, 1973. What did you expect?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Another Brazilian.
Just MHO. Though I mostly agree with OP, "support" is too strong a word in the present case. We acknowledge a democratically elected Politician (the late Chaves). I've never heard any praise to him in Brazil; exactly the opposite, at least some of us think the King of Spain was right to say "Why don't you shut up?" to him. We have high regards for all our neighbors -- and Venezuela is an important one. We're trying to rid the neighborhood from external dividing influences, better to make a continent of equals, where union is put at service of all democracies.
The USA must grow up and learn that the "big stick" idea, while great throughout the Cold War, is a liability nowadays. You don't sit to do peace talks or hope to have a participating voice in a meeting if your first act is to carefully put a revolver on the table. People stand up, move to another room and let you and your gun alone talking to the walls.
Also, putting the blame on corporations -- while possibly accurate -- leads to nowhere, because nobody has the power (or should have) to somehow control or influence other countries' citizens or companies. Which means: either you control your own country or nobody will do it for you. If you can't, things are FUBAR and we'll have a rogue nation without government to make things even worse.
Brazil certainly is no model of organization, our flag notwithstanding, but the recent news about some intelligence departments going wild and the paranoia of some governments regarding information issues are a threat to everyone's liberties all over the world.
You really should have a Friendship Secretary/Minister. Having solely military ones will not lead you to better relationships. You should have someone to tell you how such spying is bad for yourselves.
Maybe they are trying to avoid a communist South America ruled by Cuba.
Stop crying and just research how much money is being sent to Cuba by those countries (and how they "buy" votes) and you will figure it out.
"Anonymous is one group" - you, 2014.
Anonymous is a collective name for hundreds of cells of people, from really actually good hackers to useless pawns (the retards everyone knows about) that make up most of their numbers.
The FBI coordinated and sanctioned criminal acts, for which people found guilty were sentenced to several years in jail. There is apparently solid evidence. So I would expect heads to roll and whoever is responsible for that at the FBI to be sentenced to at least as many years in jail as those already found guilty. It is not going to happen, but I do not see why. This is really a candid question from a non-US citizen: what part of the US constitution prevents a US citizen from prosecuting the FBI for that?