British police arrested two men yesterday as part of a trans-Atlantic investigation into cyber attacks committed by hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec.
"The arrests relate to our enquiries into a series of serious computer intrusions and online denial-of-service attacks recently suffered by a number of multi-national companies, public institutions and government and law enforcement agencies in Great Britain and the United States," said detective inspector Mark Raymond from the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit.
Police also confirmed that a further two suspects were yesterday charged in relation to denial-of-service attacks carried out by Anonymous. They'll appear in court on September 7 alongside two others previously charged with the same offence, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.
Anonymous was heavily linked to a hack attack on the PlayStation Network in April, which resulted in 77 million users' account details being compromised. Speaking yesterday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said the PSN "is more secure and better than ever".
Comments
15 comments so far...
born2play on 2 Sep '11 said:
Kharma's a bitch!!!
Imaduck on 2 Sep '11 said:
Shoot them: -1 problem
humanhand on 2 Sep '11 said:
I'm sure they'll get shot in the face at some point, by some guy.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 2 Sep '11 said:
seriously ten years for a ddos attack. its the equivalent of tearing down a poster in the real world. Well looking forward to that bright shiny future where corporation dictate laws to governments.....oh wait.
Dewin on 2 Sep '11 said:
Those are not the same and you damn well know it. These attacks of the last year have cost people MILLIONS. Its pure vandalism. They deserve to go to jail.
kirankara on 2 Sep '11 said:
Who knows exactly what these guys have done. They won't get ten years, but if they start messing with government sites and losing companies money, then screw em anyway.
Laws may not be perfect , and I agree corporations have too much sway in political world, but when idiots like this lot start taking law into own hands, im on side of law. There's better ways of getting your voice heard, and they aren't doing it for any other reason than to amuse themselves. All that talk of fighting for common ppl etc is just bs
CatGoneCrazy on 2 Sep '11 said:
Hope Louise Boat got away.
BOYD1981 on 2 Sep '11 said:
Yes well we can all quote stuff we've read on webcomics but the fact is that it's not the tearing down the poster part that's the crime, it's the breaking into somebody else's house to do it.
I think these arrests just go to highlight how vulnerable these hacking groups actually, they think they're untouchable because they hide behind their proxies and what have you but if they p**s off the wrong people they're going to be found. Nobody is going to put too much effort into finding them if all they're doing is hacking into forums and releasing a few details, but as soon as they start targeting government organisations, utility companies, hospitals etc they're going to be dealt with.
I really wouldn't mind them that much if it wasn't for all the "We are legion" crap and the bringing down the man to protect people from oppression mentality they have, at least be honest about when you're being a dick.
ianson on 2 Sep '11 said:
Someone is an xkcd reader...
ianson on 2 Sep '11 said:
Even if it was just "tearing down a poster" it is tearing down a multi million dollar poster that brings in million dollar revenue and is part of million dollar branding representing public opinion worth millions of dollars. This "they are big companies so they are inherently evil" crap is pathetic, childish and naive... ... it represents a moral compass as well developed as inFamous' or Fable's.
They do no more to protect their property than anyone else... they just get the publicity. As for policy decision being affected by it OF COURSE IT IS. THEY EMPLOY HALF THE COUNTRY SO PROTECTING THEM IS GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY AND GOOD FOR THE PUBLIC. It is in the government's interest to keep us at a level of comfort that stops us rioting every day. You are sat at your COMPUTER in your CENTRAL HEATED house proffering opinions built on a state education. No doubt with a full belly, a stocked cupboard and prospects. Stop your half-baked, iconoclastic cliches. Its not like you care enough to launch political process... hell you probably don't vote 'cos "they are all the same anyway"...
MakoChanX on 2 Sep '11 said:
Ditto.
Dewin on 2 Sep '11 said:
Well said Lanson.
AnimaOnline on 3 Sep '11 said:
That'd have to be some f**king amazing poster. Websites are much more like shops. More realistic, they're like a whole chain of shops. A DOS attack is the equivalent of shutting down every HMV or GAME store for a day. That really f**ks up business.
Barca Azul on 4 Sep '11 said:
SeanSMEGHEAD on 4 Sep '11 said:
+1
Dont f**k with the money flow!
Havent any of you played Deus ex yet!?