'PayPal 14' Culprits Enter Guilty Pleading Over Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attack Versus PayPal

Accused 'PayPal 14' Culprits of Anonymous Enter Guilty Pleading Over Pro-WikiLeaks DDoS Attack Versus PayPal

I am quite sure that all of your regular readers still remember the devastating cyber attack from Anonymous against PayPal, the attack was conducted under the banner of Operation PayPal (#OpPayPal). The infamous hacker community stated a reason for this mass protest as the online payment company suspending the account of WikiLeaks. #OpPayPal is considered as one of the most demolishing cyber attack ever taken in cyber space. PayPal with law enforcement agencies immediately taken steps and start investigation, in the primary step PayPal sent 1000 IP address of Anonymous hacker who was linked on that attack to FBI. As expected the hackers who were behind that attack was serially busted by the police. And finally the accused anonymous hacker appeared in federal court in California on Thursday and will be formally sentenced in one year. Eleven of the so-called “PayPal 14” members each pleaded guilty in court to one felony count of conspiracy and one misdemeanor count of damaging a computer as a result of their involvement in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack waged by Anonymous in late 2010 shortly after PayPal stopped processing donations to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. Prosecutors say the defendants used a free computer program called the Low Ion Orbit Cannon, aka LOIC, to collectively flood PayPal’s servers with tremendous amounts of illegitimate internet traffic for one week that winter, at moments knocking the website offline as a result and causing what PayPal estimated to be roughly £3.5 million in damages. 

Pending good behavior, those 11 alleged Anons will be back in court early next December for sentencing, atpleading guilty to the misdemeanor counts only, likely removing themselves from any lingering felony convictions but earning an eventual 90 day jail stint when they are finally sentenced. A fourth defendant, Dennis Owen Collins, did not attend the hearing due to complications involving a similar case currently being considered by a federal judge in Alexandria Virginia in which he and one dozen others are accused of conspiring to cripple other websites as an act of protest during roughly the same time.

which point the felony charges are expected to be adjourned. Two of the remaining defendants cut deals that found them. In his press reaction defense attorney Stanley Cohen said the terms of the settlement were reached following over a year of negotiations, “based upon strength, not weakness; based upon principle, not acquiescence.” In the courtroom all the accused hacker stood up and said, ‘We did what you said we did . . .We believe it was an appropriate act from us and we’re willing to pay the price.’ 

On the other hand Cohen, who represented PayPal 14 defendant Mercedes Haefer in court, said one of the hacktivists told him after Thursdays hearing concluded that "This misdemeanor is a badge of honor and courage." When media questioned Michael Whelan, a lawyer for one of the defendants, he declined to comment on the plea. 

-Source (RT)

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British Court Convicts Anonymous Hacker "Nerdo" For DDoS Attack Over WikiLeaks Funding

British Court Convicts Anonymous Hacker "Nerdo" For DDoS Attack Over WikiLeaks Funding

Another alleged Anonymous hacker faced cour rule. A British court has convicted a 22-year-old for allegedly being a ‘key figure’ behind Anonymous DDoS attack on PayPal in revenge for its freezing WikiLeaks payments. A 22-year-old British student Christopher Weatherhead, self described "hacktivist", going by the name of "Nerdo" was convicted by the jury on a count of conspiracy to impair computer operations. The conviction came after guilty pleas of three of Weatherhead's co-conspirators.

"Christopher Weatherhead is a cyber criminal who waged a sophisticated and orchestrated campaign of online attacks on the computer systems of several major companies," prosecutor for the CPS Organized Crime Division Russell Tyner said in a statement. "These were lawful companies with ordinary customers and hard working employees. This was not a victimless crime."

This court rule came as a part of its ongoing pursuit to strike back at hackers, U.K. courts have convicted a member of Anonymous for conspiracy.

That very cyber attack, for which Christopher Weatherhead has been charged was dubbed "Operation Payback" where Weatherhead and several other Anonymous members targeted those companies that opposed internet piracy, but switched to companies like Mastercard, Visa and PayPal after they refused to process payments to WikiLeaks. Recently in our report, we described that Operation Payback cost a massive damage, for PayPal it cost more than €4.3 million. According to CPS, those campaigns carried by the hacker cost the companies more than $5.6 million in additional staffing, software, and loss of sales. 

The student denied the accusation claiming he was merely an Anonymous chatroom operator and never took part in the attacks. The judge allegedly demanded that Weatherhead provide “as much information as possible” and threatened him with a jail term. The court ruling in Mr. Weatherhead's case will be announced later. 

-Source (Cnet)

 

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DDoS Attack From Anonymous Cost PayPal £3.5 Million of Damage

DDoS Attack From Anonymous Cost PayPal £3.5 Million of Damage 

The distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) from hacktivist Anonymous has cost PayPal more than €4.3 million. The attack which was named Operation Payback were initially aimed at companies that opposed internet piracy, but switched to companies like Mastercard, Visa and PayPal after they refused to process payments to WikiLeaks. After that attack PayPal -the global leader in online money transfer and payments has paid around £3.5 million defend and arm itself against such kind distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In a report BBC said that more than one hundred skilled employees from eBay, PayPal's parent company, spent almost three weeks working on DDoS-attack-related issues and that PayPal had bought software and hardware to defend itself against further attacks. In all, the total cost of this work came to £3.5 million. This details have been revealed in a court case at Southwark Crown Court where a defendant, Christopher Weatherhead (studying at Northampton University when who allegedly took part in the campaign), is facing charges of conspiring to impair the operation of computers. He has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to impair the operation of computers between 1 August 2010 and 22 January 2011.

Sandip Patel, prosecuting, said the group caused PayPal "enormous economic harm". Mr Patel said they used distributed denial of service, or DDoS, which flooded the targets computers with enormous amounts of online requests. Target websites would crash and users would be directed to a page displaying the message: "You've tried to bite the Anonymous hand. You angered the hive and now you are being stung."

Mr Patel said: "This case, simply put, is about hackers who used the internet to attack and disable computer systems - colloquially described as cyber-attackers or vandals." He said Mr Weatherhead, who used the online name Nerdo, posted plans on an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel encouraging an attack on PayPal. 

He said PayPal was the victim of a series of attacks "which caused considerable damage to its reputation and loss of trade". 

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Teen Hacker "Cosmo the God" of Underground Nazi Sentenced 6 Yrs Internet Ban By California Court

Teen Hacker "Cosmo the God" of Underground Nazi Sentenced 6 Yrs Internet Ban By California Court

A teenager hacker from an infamous hacker collective group named Underground Nazi faced Internet ban. On Wednesday the 15 years old hacker known as "Cosmo" or "Cosmo the God" was sentenced in juvenile court in Long Beach, California. According to sources, Cosmo pleaded guilty to multiple felonies in exchange for a probation, encompassing all the charges brought against him, which included charges based on credit card fraud, identity theft, bomb threats, and online impersonation. 

This newly formed hacker group Underground Nazi had taken the spot light in January this year, when they hacked UFC.com (Ultimate Fighting Championship). Later they involved them selves in mass protest against controversial privacy act SOPA & PIPA. The protest was dubbed Operation Megaupload (#OpMegaupload), where hacktivist Anonymous  along with hackers around the globe stand together against the take down of Megaupload.com. In the middle of 2012 Cosmo was also responsible for Twitter outage, where Cosmo along with few other UG Nazi members performed massive denial of service attack to interrupt the service of Twitter. Also it has been found that, Cosmo pioneered social-engineering techniques that allowed him to gain access to user accounts at Amazon, PayPal, and a slew of other companies. He was arrested in June during a part of a multi-state FBI sting. 

Representatives from both the Long Beach district attorney and public defenders offices refused to comment on the case, given Cosmo’s status as a juvenile. However, according to Cosmo, the terms of the plea place him on probation until his 21st birthday. During that time, he cannot use the internet without prior consent from his parole officer. Nor will he be allowed to use the Internet in an unsupervised manner, or for any purposes other than education-related ones. He is required to hand over all of his account logins and passwords. He must disclose in writing any devices that he has access to that have the capability to connect to a network. He is prohibited from having contact with any members or associates of UG Nazi or Anonymous, along with a specified list of other individuals. He had to forfeit all the computers and other items seized in the raid on his home. Also, according to Cosmo, violating any of these terms will result in a three-year prison term. The probationary period lasting until age 21 is standard, but other terms were more surprising.

-Source (Wired) 

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Anonymous Planning to Attack The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

The FBI is investigating threats purportedly from the hacking collective that calls itself Anonymous to bring down the New York Stock Exchange on Monday by hacking into its computer system.
Members of the notorious hacker group appear to be threatening to bring the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York to a dangerous new level, sounding a call to “declare war on the New York Stock Exchange" on Monday by “erasing" it from the Internet.
FBI spokesman Tim Flannelly told that “The FBI is aware of these schemes and threats and is looking into the matter,” 
The hackers say they plan to launch a DDoS attack on the NYSE’s computer systems -- the same type of computer attack that brought down numerous websites last Spring, making them inaccessible.
Anonymous has also separately declared the Stock Exchange announcement a hoax, and it remains unclear whether this is an official effort by Anonymous, a group of rogue hackers or someone else entirely. Either way, the FBI is investigating.
“It is a crime to show the intent to carry out a hack when you are in possession of software or computer applications to do so and we take it seriously,” FBI spokesman Flannelly said.
In one of the videos, which was addressed to the media, a narrator states, “We can no longer stay silent as the population is being exploited and forced to make sacrifices in the name of profit. We will show the world that we are true to our word. On October 10, NYSE shall be erased from the Internet ... expect a day that will never, ever, be forgotten.” In a video addressed to the public, the narrator states, “We are the 99 percent. You have complained that something needs to be done. You now have an opportunity to make a difference. Join the protests. Organize your own. Watch online. Be a part of the movement.”

A digital flier has circulated online with the banner “Operation Invade Wall Street: This is not an occupation. This is an invasion,” and instructions how to participate in “three simple steps.”
It provides a link to download a program to participate as well as the URL for the Stock Exchange (www.nyse.com) and the date and time, October 10th at 3:30 p.m., to attack.
Would-be participants are also urged to “spread the F----- word.”
Still, other Anonymous representatives denied the plans.
A second letter has been posted online, also with Anonymous on the masthead, that references rumors of the planned attack and disclaims the group’s association:
“We have taken notice to a planned attack which has been named #InvadeWallStreet ...We strongly advise against this action and everything it entails to,” the letter says.
“We do not want history to repeat itself, and are sincerely worried,” the letter adds, referencing past attacks on Visa, Paypal, and Mastercard after they refused to accept transactions for payment to WikiLeaks.
Some have taken to Twitter, claiming the DDoS threat is a hoax, or even a setup.
“Smells like a trap! Don't participate,” said one tweet with the hashtag #invadewallstreet.
“HOAX: #invadewallstreet is not a valid OP. Beware of provocateurs!!!” said another posting.

-News Source (FOXNews)

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Suspected LulzSec and Anonymous Members Got Busted

Four men have been arrested in separate parts of the UK by police investigating the hacker groups Anonymous and LulzSec. The suspects - from Doncaster, Warminster, Northampton and London - are being questioned by Scotland Yard's e-Crime unit. Their arrests are part of a wider operation involving UK law enforcement and the FBI. At the same time, 14 suspected members of Anonymous appeared in a US court.
Authorities around the world have been rounding up suspects following a wave of attacks by both groups on major corporations and government institutions.
Amazon, PayPal, the CIA, US Senate and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency have all suffered either intrusions or denial of service attacks, designed to take their websites offline.

Mass arrests:-

In the latest round of British arrests, police detained 20-year-old Christopher Weatherhead from Northampton and 26-year-old Ashley Rhodes from Kennington, near London. The pair are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 7 September. Detectives also arrested a 24-year-old man from Doncaster, and a 20-year-old from Wiltshire for conspiring to commit offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. In the United States, a mass court appearance saw 14 suspected Anonymous members appear before a judge in San Jose, California. All of them denied being involved in a denial of service attack on PayPal's website in December 2010. Anonymous had publicly declared its intent to target both PayPal and Amazon for, what the group perceived as, their complicity in isolating whistle blowing website Wikileaks. Following the leaking of confidential US State Department memos, PayPal stopped processing donations to Wikileaks, while Amazon kicked the site off its web hosting service.

-News Source (BBC)

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Internal Collision Between Anonymous Team, Group Members Are Quitting

Internal collision between  Anonymous team,  members are quitting Anon group, and the main caused described by them si Lulzsec and Antisec movement. An alleged member of  Anonymous has apparently outed himself and quit. The UK-based hacker, who says his real name is Matthew, operated under the pseudonym “SparkyBlaze” during his time with Anonymous. As to his reasons for leaving the group, he points mainly to LulzSec, the AntiSec movement, and Anonymous’ leadership.

Mathew said :-

“When I started with Anon I thought I was helping people but over the past few months things inside anon have changed,” the hacker said in a statement posted to the Web. “I am mostly talking about AntiSec and LulzSec. They both go against what I stand for (and what anonymous says they stand for). Antisec has released gig after gig of innocent peoples information. For what? What did they do? Does anon have the right to remove the anonymity of innocent people? They are always talking about peoples right to remain anonymous so why are they removing that right?” To the Anonymous members he leaves behind, SparyBlaze adds, “You are not helping anyone.” He continues, “Think about the long run. Some thinking now can save you some large legal bills later. And yes i will be there when you get out of court to say: I told you so. There are other ways to help people, just don’t go to anon you are not hurting the governments you are hurting yourselves in the long run.” 

To see Matthew's full statement and the reason why he is quitting cheek the following link where he has described everything.  

http://pastebin.com/WYJS303d

Else You Can See the Statement of Matthew Here:-

"Ok,

So Over The Past Few Days I Have Been At A Cross road With Anonymous. Why? Because I Started To Think.

So When I Started With Anon I Thought I Was Helping People But Over The Past Few Months Things Inside Anon Have Changed. I Am Mostly Talking About AntiSec And LulzSec. They Both Go Against What I Stand For (And What Anonymous Says They Stand For). AntiSec Has Released Gig After Gig Of Innocent Peoples Information. For What? What Did They Do? Does Anon Have The Right To Remove The Anonymity Of Innocent People? They Are Always Talking About Peoples Right To Remain Anonymous So Why Are They Removing That Right?


Now I Could Talk for Hours On Why I Have Came To This Choice But I Don't Think Anyone Would Or  Read It Or Care. So I Will Just Say Some Key Points:

They Are Removing Peoples Right To Anonymity, A Right Which They Claim To Protect And Uphold.

Sending Some Packets To A Server And Putting Info On-line Is Not Helping Or Solving Anything

Anonymous DOES Have A Leader Ship And They Don't Give 2 Fucks About Us. Think, When Anons Were Arrested For DDoSing Paypal A While Back Was There A Mass Free Anon Operation?. Did They Put-Out Press Releases And Start Donations For Them?. No They Did One TV Interview And Fed Them To The Lions But When TopIary Was Arrested They Started #FreeTopIary We All Know He Is A "Higher Up" In Anon And They Started A Op For Him. You Think Those Donations Are Going To Topiary? Why Start A Op For Him? Well I Think It Is Because Of 2 Things:

    - Press (Anon Is The Biggest Fucking Media Whore I Have Ever Seen)

    - TopIary Is A Anon Who They Give A Fuck About

Now You May Think I Am Mad But All The Proof Is There. I Am Not Saying People In Anon Are All Fags, Some Thing They Are Helping. But They Have Been Tricked Into Thinking It. Truth Is Anonymous Hasn't Brought Down Governments. The People Have. If You Was A Dictator you Wouldn't Give a Fuck About People Taking Down Your Site. You Would Give A Fuck About The People Rioting And Wanting You Dead.

Anonymous Has Prayed On Peoples Willingness To Help Others. And Most Of Them Are Kids Who Don't Understand What They Are Doing Can Fuck Up There Lives And The IRC Wont Help Them.

I Could Put More But I Don't See The Point.

A Message To The Governments:

If You Hate Anon, Don't Arrest The Kids. Arrest The Leaders. Without Them Everything Will Fall To Shit. All The Recruitment Will Stop And Then The People Will Start To Think And Understand That Anon Is Not Helping Anyone.

A Message To The Leaders Of Anon:

Fuck You Can't Wait Till You All Get Arrested :D

And If One Anon Sees The Truth Every Week Then Your Time Is Running Out

A Message To The Anon's:

Quit While You Still Can, You Are Not Helping Anyone And You Need To Think About The Long Run. Some Thinking Now Can Save You Some Large Legal Bills Later. And Yes I Will Be There When You Get  Out Of Court To Say: I Told You So. There Are Other Ways To Help People, Just Don't Go To Anon You Are Not Hurting The Governments You Are Hurting Yourselves In The Long Run. And No I Am Not Saying I Agree With What The Governments Are Doing But I Also Do Not Agree With Anon.

You Cant Arrest A Idea But You Can Throw A Kid In Jail And Fuck Up Their Life.

Don't Do The Crime If You Can't Do The Time.

Ps:

I Am Not Saying Everything Anon Has Done Is Pointless Things Like Getting Internet To People When Governments Cut It Off I Support. I Am Just Saying Most Of It Isn't Helping Anyone And Is Just Getting Kids Arrested.

I Would Like to Thank People Like:
@th3j35t3r
@sambowne
@AnonTangoDown
@providesecurity
And Everyone Else Who Has Been Spreading The Truth About Anon.
Thanks

SparkyBlaze

For Proof That I Am Not Trolling:

My Name Is Matthew And I Live In The UK, Manchester And No I Wont Post My Address And Phone Numbers Because I Know I Will Have Pizzas And Prank Calls To My House (That In It's Self Is More Proof That You Are All Kids). If You Want To Know More Then By All Means Dox Me. Remove My Right To Remain Anonymous."

-News Source (BGR & Pastebin)

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PayPal Sent 1,000 IP Addresses List of Anonymous to FBI

In cooperation with the FBI, PayPal sent them a list of about 1,000 IP addresses that carried malicious code during Anonymous' attacks on it last year, which helped agents target specific people in recent raids that led to 16 arrests.

An affidavit filed by Special Agent Chris Thompson reveals that PayPal worked closely with the feds to nail down those responsible for the attacks on it, from the time the attacks started to about a week later, when PayPal found warnings about the FBI sweeps circulating amongst participants in the attacks.  

As early as December, FBI agents had been in contact with Dave Weisman, PayPal's senior manager of its Electronic Crimes and Threat Intelligence Unit. They shared a conference call two days after PayPal was hit with a distributed denial of service (DDos) attack in retaliation for suspending donations  to WikiLeaks through its PayPal account. PayPal reported several attacks to the FBI that occurred between Dec. 6 and 10.

On Dec.15, PayPal provided agents with a thumb drive that contained "logs and report detailing information regarding approximately 1,000 IP addresses that sent malicious network packets to PayPal during the DDoS attacks."

The 1,000 IP addresses were derived from logs created by a PayPal-owned Radware device that records the attackers' IP addresses and the malicious signature it's programmed to recognize. According to the affidavit, a senior security engineer at eBay identified the specific set of strings being used in the attacks, and found only half a dozen variations, leading investigators to be able to pinpoint the patterns of the infiltration.

The IP addresses captured by PayPal were able to be linked to specific premises through subpoenas served upon AT&T and other Internet Service Providers. One of the 1,000 IP addresses given to the FBI by PayPal sent more than 3,600 "malicious network packets" to PayPal between Dec. 8 and 9. A federal grand jury subpoena was served on AT&T on Jan. 6, which AT&T complied with a response on Jan. 18, which led to Valori S. Reid and Peter B. Reid, and their 19-year-old son Ethan, in Arlington, Texas. 

The Reids weren't arrested, but their home was the site of one of 35 search warrants executed by the FBI in relation to the Anonymous investigation. 

Here is a screen shots or warning for every suspects who might have been involved in that operation:-  

-News Source (NBC)

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Wikileaks Will Take Legal Action Against PayPal, MasterCard & Visa

There hasn't been much talk lately over the fact that PayPal, MasterCard and Visa all cut off Wikileaks late last year, after the US government freaked out about the release of some State Department Cables. None of the firms has done a very good job explaining why this makes sense (or why they continue to allow other groups, such as the KKK to receive funding, while singling out Wikileaks). I'm sure those three firms, which took quite a public bashing when the news originally dropped, would prefer that there not be any more talk about it. However, Wikileaks and the payment firm they used, DataCell, are apparently planning to file a legal complaintthis week against all three firms in Europe. A draft of the complaint, which was obtained by Andy Greenberg at Forbes (linked above and embedded below), claims that the three firms violated Articles 101 and 102 of the EU Treaty, effectively a form of antitrust law. While I tend to think many antitrust claims are merely attacks on successful companies, this seems like a case where they could make sense. Here you have basically the only three ways for most people to transfer money easily, all agreeing to block a single (small) client from receiving money, despite no legal ruling against the operation (hell, charges haven't even been filed). It certainly would make for an interesting case.

-News Source (techdirt)

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Anonymous to target Iran with DoS attack

The hacker group Anonymous has its next denial-of-service (DoS) target in sight: Iran, CNET has learned.

Members of the loosely organized group are planning "Operation Iran," an attack designed to shut down Iranian Web sites beginning Sunday, according to their latest online proclamation. May 1 is International Worker's Day.

"The people of Iran have the admiration of Anonymous, and the entire world," the statement says. "We can see that Iran still suffers at the hands of those in power. Your former government has seized control, and tries to silence you. People of Iran--your rights belong to you."

The operation seemed to already have begun late today with Web page defacements ostensibly targeted at Iranian hackers. Anonymous left messages on several Web sites that had allegedly been previously attacked by the Iranian Cyber Army, including the site of a Canadian information systems firm and the site of a Ukrainian dancing group, according to an observer on an Anonymous Internet Relay Chat channel that members use to coordinate their operations.

Anonymous is known for its renegade cyberattacks in defense of perceived underdogs or to support freedom of expression or other anti-establishment causes. In defense of whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks, the group targeted PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and other companies late last year that had stopped enabling WikiLeaks to receive contributions.

Earlier this month, Anonymous targeted Sony in protest of the company's treatment of Sony PlayStation hacker George Hotz. Hotz and Sony have since settled the lawsuit Sony filed, and Anonymous has denied any involvement in a recent serious breach that exposed information of millions of Sony PlayStation Network customers.

Other Anonymous targets have been: Broadcast Music Inc., the Church of Scientology; the governments of Egypt, Iran, and Sweden; the Westboro Baptist Church; conservative activist billionaires Charles and David Koch and their companies; as well as security firm HBGary Federal, which had reportedly been working with the FBI to identify the leaders of Anonymous.

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