Matthew Prince, the CEO of CloudFlare:
Internally, we had a debate about the right thing to do. It’s important to note that because of the way CloudFlare works, no hacking activity was launched from our network – it was simply a matter of publishing information. So hacking happened in other places and then when they published the information about their exploits it would pass through the CloudFlare network.
So in that sense we’re more akin to network provider than a hosting provider. If we were to terminate Lulz Security as a client that wouldn’t make the content go away, it wouldn’t take it off the internet, it would just make it slow and more vulnerable to attacks. Our goal is to power a better internet. There are a lot of things on the internet that I personally find quite troubling and the list of those things is maybe very different from yours, but our role as a company wasn’t to play internet censor.
But obeying the law can sometimes be very expensive Christine. And obeying one law can lead to ISPs having to obey another and who wants that? Before you know it, even internet users have to obey the law…the horror!
Every day, rival nations, criminal syndicates and maybe even terrorists probe for weaknesses in our most critical computer networks, seeking to steal data, money, and identities. Even more dangerous is their potential to plant malicious code in industrial control systems that would allow them to seize control of a region’s electric grid, crash stock markets, or contaminate water supply with the touch of a key from a world away.
It feels like we’re back to the days before September 11, 2001.
The UK’s Digital Economy Act, which forces ISPs to send out notifications to alleged file-sharers who infringe copyright, will go ahead after the two largest ISPs’ appeal fails.
Their bid to overturn a High Court decision backing the measures, which is thought to help claw back the thought to be £400 million lost each year in lost revenue, was turned down this morning.
ISPs will now have to send letters to alleged copyright infringers and file sharers warning them that their service could be cut off and barred from accessing the Web.
Law enforcement agents on two continents swooped in on top members of the infamous computer hacking group LulzSec early this morning, and acting largely on evidence gathered by the organization’s brazen leader — who sources say has been secretly working for the government for months — arrested three and charged two more with conspiracy.
Charges against four of the five were based on a conspiracy case filed in New York federal court, FoxNews.com has learned. An indictment charging the suspects, who include two men from Great Britain, two from Ireland and an American in Chicago, is expected to be unsealed Tuesday morning in the Southern District of New York.
“This is devastating to the organization,” said an FBI official involved with the investigation. “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.”
The offshoot of the loose network of hackers, Anonymous, believed to have caused billions of dollars in damage to governments, international banks and corporations, was allegedly led by a shadowy figure FoxNews.com has identified as Hector Xavier Monsegur. Working under the Internet alias “Sabu,” the unemployed, 28-year-old father of two allegedly commanded a loosely organized, international team of perhaps thousands of hackers from his nerve center in a public housing project on New York’s Lower East Side. After the FBI unmasked Monsegur last June, he became a cooperating witness, sources told FoxNews.com.
“They caught him and he was secretly arrested and now works for the FBI,” a source close to Sabu told FoxNews.com.
Monsegur pleaded guilty Aug. 15 to 12 hacking-related charges and information documenting his admissions is expected to be unsealed in Southern District Court on Tuesday.
As a result of Monsegur’s cooperation, which was confirmed by numerous senior-level officials, the remaining top-ranking members of LulzSec were arrested or hit with additional charges Tuesday morning. The five charged in the LulzSec conspiracy indictment expected to be unsealed were identified by sources as: Ryan Ackroyd, aka “Kayla” and Jake Davis, aka “Topiary,” both of London; Darren Martyn, aka “pwnsauce” and Donncha O’Cearrbhail, aka “palladium,” both of Ireland; and Jeremy Hammond aka “Anarchaos,” of Chicago.
Hammond was arrested on access device fraud and hacking charges and is believed to have been the main person behind the devastating December hack on U.S. security company Stratfor. Millions of emails were stolen and then published on Wikileaks; credit card numbers and other confidential information were also stolen, law enforcement sources told FoxNews.com.
The sources said Hammond will be charged in a separate indictment, and they described him as a member of Anonymous.
The others are all suspected members of LulzSec, the group that has wreaked havoc on U.S. and foreign government agencies, including the CIA and FBI, numerous defense contractors, financial and governmental entities and corporations including Fox and Sony.
Ackroyd, who is suspected of using the online handle “Kayla,” is alleged to be Monsegur’s top deputy. Among other things, Kayla identified vulnerabilities in the U.S. Senate’s computer systems and passed the information on to Sabu. Kayla was expected to be taken into custody on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the Southern District and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara declined comment.
Monsegur’s attorney did not return FoxNews.com’s repeated requests for comment.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/06/hacking-group-lulzsec-swept-up-by-law-enforcement/
Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka “Sabu,” pleaded guilty to the following charges on Aug. 15, 2011:
COUNT ONE: Conspiracy to Engage in Computer Hacking—Anonymous
COUNT TWO: Conspiracy to Engage in Computer Hacking—Internet Feds
COUNT THREE: Conspiracy to Engage in Computer Hacking—LulzSec
COUNT FOUR: Computer Hacking—Hack of HBGary
COUNT FIVE: Computer Hacking—Hack of Fox
COUNT SIX: Computer hacking—Hack of Sony Pictures
COUNT SEVEN: Computer Hacking—Hack of PBS
COUNT EIGHT: Computer Hacking—Hack of Infraguard-Atlanta
COUNT NINE: Computer Hacking in Furtherance of Fraud
COUNT TEN: Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud
COUNT ELEVEN: Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud
COUNT TWELVE: Aggravated Identity Theft
Previously:
Attack Of The Smurfs Part 2 – The Pirate Bay Promoting “Raised Fist”
http://vrritti.com/2012/03/03/attack-of-the-smurfs-part-2-the-pirate-bay-promoting-raised-fist/
And what about criminal creativity and innovation?
Also took a few nerds to accomplish the goal
They’ve been telling us all for years we were going to get hacked, and now that the threat finally seems real, we’re actually taking them seriously and paying them plenty to make sure we’re in the clear.
Researchers have always operated under a kind of fatalism when it comes to hackers: If you haven’t been hacked yet, you will be. That’s a terrifying thing to hear if you’re the government or a huge corporation. Unfortunately—or fortunately—the problem is so glaring, and the stakes are so high, that the powers that be can’t just close their eyes, and pretend the digital boogeymen in Guy Fawkes masks won’t ever come.
http://gizmodo.com/5890476/thanks-to-anonymous-everyone-finally-takes-security-nerds-seriously
The Federal Trade Commission is once again being asked to investigate Apple and Google, this time over the ability of third parties to gather and upload photos and address book contacts without the user’s consent. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) is urging the FTC to look into the two companies’ privacy policies and behaviors when it comes to private user information.
