How an FBI Informant Led the Hack of British Tabloid "The Sun"

Daniel_Stuckey writes Hector Xavier Monsegur, also known online as "Sabu," was caught by the FBI in June of 2011 for a litany of hacking-related offenses and, within hours, began cooperating with authorities in hopes of receiving a lenient sentence. Now, never-before-published FBI records and exclusive interviews detail how the informant rallied other hackers to attack various News Corp. interests, including The Sun, at a time that the FBI has said it was tracking all of Monsegur's online activity. And for a week shortly after his arrest, he was privy to the anti-Murdoch campaign waged by Anonymous, according to the documents obtained by Motherboard.

Comments

Everything old is new again...

[Karmashock]

When in US history was the FBI turned against a native political faction to the political gain of the sitting establishment?

Exactly. We've seen this movie before.

And we know how it ends. Whatever you think of the targets of these things... it won't destroy those movements... it is just pissing them off.

Re:Sounds like a movie plot.

[gl4ss]

well why bother with finesse when the crimes were clearly of victimless, damageless nature.

how the fuck else could you turn 124 years into 12 months probationfuck? the crimes are of nature that nobody gives a fuck about really, so there's unbelievable range in the potential punishment.

for the record, that's like giving a mobster 6 months in jail for confessing to multiple crimes that would give life sentences each - while not disputing that he did those things.

So the UK can charge him?

[Bruce66423]

Given that the US has sought the extradition of UK based offenders who hacked US sites, there seems no reason for him not to be surrendered to Her Majesty's hospitality, even if he was given 'immunity' by the US.

Or will the UK once again prove to be a lapdog of the US government.

Re:So the UK can charge him?

[NotDrWho]

I really think it's disparaging to call the UK government the lapdogs of the U.S.

I mean, it's really not fair to lapdogs. They at least have SOME dignity.

Agent Provocateur

[NotDrWho]

And THIS is why you should always be suspicious of the guy in your cause who always seems to be screaming the loudest for the most radical (and illegal) stuff, yet whose own operations always seem to end up sabotaged.

Daniel Domscheit-Berg, I'm looking in your direction.