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Lulzsec: UK men plead guilty to hacking charges

29 points by gerryg 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago
By "hacking" here , they basically just mean DDOS right?
- baseonmars 14y ago
  "Mr Cleary also faces charges in the US, where he stands accused of breaking into a number of websites, including that of the US X Factor, in order to deface them and steal personal details."
- cldrope 14y ago
  When they call Anonymous a hacking collective, you know they're either too stupid, or too corrupt to say it like it is. They're just a bunch of stupid kids, and I wouldn't label what Anonymous as a whole is doing as hacking regardless of how you painted it. Lulzsec on the hand...are a bunch of kids who learned TRICKS before they gained the knowledge that comes with it. After years of learning and you get to a point of finding exploits yourself, you understand at this point WHY doing things is a bad idea. They skipped the learning phase and just learned some stupid tricks that allowed them to do a lot of damage while knowing little.
  - freehunter 14y ago
    It brings to mind the old infosec adage: What's the difference between hacking and pentesting? Permission. The best hackers learn quickly to become security researchers/GRC/application security/etc. The rest end up in jail or swimming in debt from the lawsuits. It's okay to break things as long as you've been given permission to break them, and generally that permission comes with a clause to give advice on how to make sure it doesn't get broken again. It's natural selection in the hacker realm. If you want to survive, you have to play by the rules.
scorch 14y ago
Is there a story of how they were caught? They did have pretty good protection against it. Was it a slip somewhere? Did their pride take over so they told too many of their friends, who may have turned them in?
- pyre 14y ago
  Sabu helped the FBI. According to Wikipedia: On August 15, he pleaded guilty to several hacking charges and agreed to cooperate with the FBI. Over the following seven months he successfully unmasked the other members of the group.
  - scottmey 14y ago
    The new issue of Wired has a pretty in-depth article about Anonymous explaining Sabu's cooperation and proceeding arrests.
  - Scramblejams 14y ago
    To that I would add that Sabu was found because (according to what I read) he once signed into a Lulzsec IRC channel without masking his residential IP. So yes, there was a slip, which led to Sabu's cooperation.
    - cldrope 14y ago
      There was a slip which led to his capture. Instead of paying the unfettered price for the crimes he committed, he ratted out his friends in a blatant abuse of the system in order to lessen his punishment. The lesson for today kids, is never commit a crime alone, so you have someone to rat out on for that plea deal!
      - danielweber 14y ago
        Why are plea bargains to help capture more people an abuse of the system?
Paul_S 14y ago
It's depressing when all the biggest governmental agencies in the world can catch are a few teenagers with scripts. At the same time we just accept multimillion crime groups and governments wrecking havoc because they're just too darn hard to catch.
- gouranga 14y ago
  I think you nailed it there. It's the governments I find the most objectionable as they are pretty hard to bring to justice.
  - EdwardQ 14y ago
    Indeed, it even comes on the same day the British prime minister makes a speech where he takes benefits away from the young who are struggling to find work and uses the term "culture of entitlement". This from a landed multi-millionaire and without a hint of irony.
    - mjwalshe 14y ago
      Got to keep the Tablian aka Mumsnet onside look at the fuss when couples earning 4 times the median Uk wage where going to have child benefit removed.
    - gouranga 14y ago
      The Tories have always kept the poor as poor as possible. Its where they like them. In fact they'd rather everyone was poor. I'm 300 quid a month down since the unelected fuckers took over and all I've seen is money pissed up the wall on that dreaded word: austerity. If I was a saving money consultant I'd be rich.
- mjwalshe 14y ago
  Because professional OGA's don't tend to blurt their successes all over the internet and normaly they dont target traditional criminals.
losethos 14y ago
You're on trial in God's court for being a militant atheist. Yer fucked. God says... the case, for instance, with most word processors); OR [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC or other equivalent proprietary form). [2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this "Small Print!" statement. [3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the net profits you derive calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon University" within the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.
klaut 14y ago
Funny how the title says "men" and then you discover that those are just two kids of 19 and 18 years old. I was expecting to read about some serious cyber criminals...
- HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
  So... you're saying they shouldn't be considered adults at age 18, then?
  - Paul_S 14y ago
    18 years threshold is just an odd convention. Biologically it's closer to 12 but the legal and cultural threshold varies wildly all over the planet. My rule of thumb: if you don't have to make a living - you're a kid. Enjoy it while it lasts.

29 points by gerryg 14y ago

jiggy2011 14y ago

By "hacking" here , they basically just mean DDOS right?

baseonmars 14y ago
"Mr Cleary also faces charges in the US, where he stands accused of breaking into a number of websites, including that of the US X Factor, in order to deface them and steal personal details."
cldrope 14y ago
When they call Anonymous a hacking collective, you know they're either too stupid, or too corrupt to say it like it is. They're just a bunch of stupid kids, and I wouldn't label what Anonymous as a whole is doing as hacking regardless of how you painted it. Lulzsec on the hand...are a bunch of kids who learned TRICKS before they gained the knowledge that comes with it. After years of learning and you get to a point of finding exploits yourself, you understand at this point WHY doing things is a bad idea. They skipped the learning phase and just learned some stupid tricks that allowed them to do a lot of damage while knowing little.
- freehunter 14y ago
  It brings to mind the old infosec adage: What's the difference between hacking and pentesting? Permission. The best hackers learn quickly to become security researchers/GRC/application security/etc. The rest end up in jail or swimming in debt from the lawsuits. It's okay to break things as long as you've been given permission to break them, and generally that permission comes with a clause to give advice on how to make sure it doesn't get broken again. It's natural selection in the hacker realm. If you want to survive, you have to play by the rules.

scorch 14y ago

Is there a story of how they were caught? They did have pretty good protection against it. Was it a slip somewhere? Did their pride take over so they told too many of their friends, who may have turned them in?

pyre 14y ago
Sabu helped the FBI. According to Wikipedia: On August 15, he pleaded guilty to several hacking charges and agreed to cooperate with the FBI. Over the following seven months he successfully unmasked the other members of the group.
- scottmey 14y ago
  The new issue of Wired has a pretty in-depth article about Anonymous explaining Sabu's cooperation and proceeding arrests.
- Scramblejams 14y ago
  To that I would add that Sabu was found because (according to what I read) he once signed into a Lulzsec IRC channel without masking his residential IP. So yes, there was a slip, which led to Sabu's cooperation.
  - cldrope 14y ago
    There was a slip which led to his capture. Instead of paying the unfettered price for the crimes he committed, he ratted out his friends in a blatant abuse of the system in order to lessen his punishment. The lesson for today kids, is never commit a crime alone, so you have someone to rat out on for that plea deal!
    - danielweber 14y ago
      Why are plea bargains to help capture more people an abuse of the system?

Paul_S 14y ago

It's depressing when all the biggest governmental agencies in the world can catch are a few teenagers with scripts. At the same time we just accept multimillion crime groups and governments wrecking havoc because they're just too darn hard to catch.

gouranga 14y ago
I think you nailed it there. It's the governments I find the most objectionable as they are pretty hard to bring to justice.
- EdwardQ 14y ago
  Indeed, it even comes on the same day the British prime minister makes a speech where he takes benefits away from the young who are struggling to find work and uses the term "culture of entitlement". This from a landed multi-millionaire and without a hint of irony.
  - mjwalshe 14y ago
    Got to keep the Tablian aka Mumsnet onside look at the fuss when couples earning 4 times the median Uk wage where going to have child benefit removed.
  - gouranga 14y ago
    The Tories have always kept the poor as poor as possible. Its where they like them. In fact they'd rather everyone was poor. I'm 300 quid a month down since the unelected fuckers took over and all I've seen is money pissed up the wall on that dreaded word: austerity. If I was a saving money consultant I'd be rich.
mjwalshe 14y ago
Because professional OGA's don't tend to blurt their successes all over the internet and normaly they dont target traditional criminals.

losethos 14y ago

You're on trial in God's court for being a militant atheist. Yer fucked. God says... the case, for instance, with most word processors); OR [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC or other equivalent proprietary form). [2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this "Small Print!" statement. [3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the net profits you derive calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon University" within the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.

klaut 14y ago

Funny how the title says "men" and then you discover that those are just two kids of 19 and 18 years old. I was expecting to read about some serious cyber criminals...

HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
So... you're saying they shouldn't be considered adults at age 18, then?
- Paul_S 14y ago
  18 years threshold is just an odd convention. Biologically it's closer to 12 but the legal and cultural threshold varies wildly all over the planet. My rule of thumb: if you don't have to make a living - you're a kid. Enjoy it while it lasts.