Alleged Sony Hackers Arrested

[Ricky]

Source - http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/10/spain-anonymous-idUSLDE7591P420110610

* Spanish police arrest 3 suspected Anonymous "hactivists"

* Suspects accused of attacking websites of Sony, banks

* Spanish police say further arrests may follow (Recasts making clear police did not link to big PlayStation attacks; adds comment from Anonymous, details throughout, BOSTON dateline, byline)

By Iciar Paneda and Jim Finkle

MADRID/BOSTON, June 10 (Reuters) - Spanish police arrested three men suspected to be members of the hacker group Anonymous on Friday, charging them with organizing cyber attacks against the websites of Sony Corp (6758.T), banks and governments -- but not the recent massive hacking of PlayStation gamers.

Anonymous responded by threatening to retaliate for the arrests: "We are Legion, so EXPECT US," the group said on its official ******* feed.

Spanish police alleged the three "hacktivists" helped organize an attack that temporarily shuttered access to some Sony websites. They were not linked to two massive cyber attacks against Sony's Playstation Network that resulted in the theft of information from more than 100 million customers.

Police also accused the men of launching cyber assaults on Spanish banks BBVA (BBVA.MC) and Bankia, and Italian energy group Enel SpA (ENEI.MI).

The arrests are the first in Spain against alleged members of Anonymous, following the detention of others in the United States and Britain. Police told Reuters all three men were Spanish and in their 30s. One worked in the merchant navy.

Anonymous is a loose grouping of self-proclaimed hactivists who frequently try to shut down the websites of businesses and other organizations that it opposes.

Its members describe themselves as Internet freedom fighters and have previously brought down websites of the Church of Scientology, as well as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), MasterCard Inc (MA.N) and others they saw as hostile to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.

Anonymous members cripple websites by overwhelming them with traffic in what is commonly known as "denial of service" attacks. The group publicizes these campaigns on the Web, giving supporters the information to attack a targeted site.

The group is currently sponsoring attacks to shut down Turkish government websites in a protest against Internet censorship. Attempts to reach the group by email were not immediately successful.

To date, the group has not been linked to crimes for financial profit.

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Sony PlayStation recovery delayed in Asia [ID:nL3E7GV08P]

Turkey comes under attack from Anonymous [ID:nLDE75825A]

In the chatroom with the cyber guerillas [ID:nLDE70I121]

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Spanish police said the accused, who were arrested in Almeria, Barcelona and Alicante, were guilty of coordinated computer hacking attacks from a server set up in a house in Gijon in the north of Spain.

The Spanish police said members of Anonymous, known for wearing Guy Fawkes masks made popular by the graphic novel "V for Vendetta," had also hacked government sites in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia and New Zealand.

"They are structured in independent cells and make thousands of simultaneous attacks using infected 'zombie' computers worldwide. This is why NATO considers them a threat to the military alliance," the police said in a statement.

"They are even capable of collapsing a country's administrative structure."

The police did not rule out further arrests.

Sony PlayStation spokesman Dan Race declined to comment on the arrests on Friday.

 

[JohnK]

Too fucking right.

 

[HappyFace01010]

Lol, it wasn't Anonymous who actually hacked Sony, they needed someone to blame. Anonymous did own the Spanish government by taking down its site afterwards . I really doubt these people that got caught in Spain where even in anonymous; they where probably people that where just helping to ddos something down.

 

[I_DONT_BOT]

Anonymous take things too far. They hack websites, that could have caused people doing a lot of stuff. How would you like it if they took down PP, halfway through a trade on here. You've just send $400, but the other person won't give you the cash, until they can verify it, which they can't, as the site was down. Also, if they got your details, you'd be pretty pissed. They need stopping, but It'll be a challenge.

 

[Trinity19]

Everyone single person in the internet who has a brain knows Lulzboat did it.

Did you even read the post and article?
It said that they weren't included in the recent larger attacks

MADRID/BOSTON, June 10 (Reuters) - Spanish police arrested three men suspected to be members of the hacker group Anonymous on Friday, charging them with organizing cyber attacks against the websites of Sony Corp (6758.T), banks and governments -- but not the recent massive hacking of PlayStation gamers.

Anonymous responded by threatening to retaliate for the arrests: "We are Legion, so EXPECT US," the group said on its official ******* feed.

Spanish police alleged the three "hacktivists" helped organize an attack that temporarily shuttered access to some Sony websites. They were not linked to two massive cyber attacks against Sony's Playstation Network that resulted in the theft of information from more than 100 million customers.

There are other hackers out there going after sony you know, not just lulzsec. lulzsec just is more publicized. Please learn to read.

 

[brenth]

Good to know that the hackers who are responsible in attacking websites of Sony, banks had been arrested now. I also recently read the news about hackers it says that the F.B.I. detained fourteen individuals in 10 different states. Arrests were made in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio. . The individuals were alleged to be planning a cyber-attack on eBay’s PayPal website. All those imprisoned are thought to be people in a loose-knit, politically-motivated organization of cyber vigilantes called Anonymous. Meanwhile, busts for cyber-crimes were increasing this week.I found this here: 14 arrested for planned PayPal cyber-attack

 

[oxodium]

.I found this here: 14 arrested for planned PayPal cyber-attack

Lucky for sythe, the attack on PayPal didn't go through, or as said above... We'd be seriously worried.

I'm glad to see some of the hackers caught, even if they weren't responsible for the sony hackings. Makes me feel slightly more secure online.