Stratfor Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison

LulzSec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison For Stratfor Hack

Infamous hacker Jeremy Hammond convicted by the Judge for cyber-attacks on government agencies and businesses, including a global intelligence company. This 28 year old Chicago hacker who is also known as "Anarchaos" was arrested by the federal authorities and been charged for the  breach of the security analysis company Stratfor. In December last year the bail application of Hammond was also been rejected by the the U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska. On June this year Hammond pleaded guilty for his sin. In his statement he said "I have pleaded guilty, it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites." 

That guilty plea indeed worked out for him, as that time it was predicated that Hammond  might have to face 30 years in prison, but on Friday Judge Loretta Preska sentenced Hammond to 120 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for illegally accessing computers systems of law enforcement agencies and government contractors. In an emotional proceeding that lasted more than 2 hours in a Manhattan federal court room on Friday, victims and relatives of Hammond railed against the FBI and shed tears on his behalf following the sentencing. One overwrought person claiming to be a victim was forcibly escorted from the court by officers. But Hammond likely knew the sentence was coming, his lawyer said. "When Jeremy took this plea with a 10-year maximum, I think he understood this was very likely the outcome," said Sarah Kunstler, Hammond's defense attorney outside of court house.

Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska said Hammond's digital handiwork had compromised thousands of people's personal and financial data, including the unpublished phone numbers and addresses of law enforcement, who then received threats. Hammond tried unsuccessfully to argue that his actions were politically motivated, she said. Hammond pleaded guilty to a single charge with a 10-year maximum sentence. Still his lawyers are asking to reduce his punishment for a sentence of 20 months.

Hammond has been held without bail since his arrest in March on charges connected with last year's hacking of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based international intelligence broker, by AntiSec, an offshoot of LulzSec, which is in turn an offshoot of the hacktivist collective Anonymous. Prosecutors say the hack of Austin, Texas-based Strategic Forecasting resulted in the theft of 60,000 credit-card numbers and records for 860,000 clients. The government alleges that he published some of that information online, and used some of the stolen credit card data to run up at least $700,000 in unauthorized charges. He is also accused of giving about five million internal emails to WikiLeaks, which were published under the name The Global Intelligence Files.

-Source (Fox News)

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Jeremy Hammond -Key Member of Anonymous Affiliated LulzSec Pleads Guilty To Stratfor Hack

Jeremy Hammond -Key Member of Anonymous Affiliated LulzSec Pleads Guilty To Stratfor Hack, Could Face 10 Years In Prison

Lulz Security widely known as LulzSec, the most dangerous hacker collective group who set their devastating hacking rampage for fifty days in which they have successfully penetrated almost all the so called top secure fields; has suddenly stopped their sail. But stopping crime never means that the criminal will be overlooked, the pending punishment will surely take place. And this applied from LulzSec also. Lat year we have seen leader of LulzSec and also also leader of infamous hacker collective group Anonymous code-named "Sabu," whose real name is Hector Xavier Monsegur, turned traitor to his community and became FBI informer and provided all the information on fellow hackers. The arrest of Sabu subsequently helped law-enforcement officials to infiltrate Lulzsec, an offshoot of Anonymous, the loose hacking collective that has supported an ever-shifting variety of causes. The information provided by Sabu lead FBI to arrest all the key members of LulzSec including Ryan Cleary, Jake Davis, Raynaldo Rivera, Cody Kretsinger and so on. Among them there was Jeremy Hammond widely known as "Anarchaos" who was arrested by the federal authorities and been charged for the  breach of the security analysis company Stratfor. In December last year the bail application of Hammond was also been rejected by the the Court. So after several hearings finally the accused of security breach against global intelligence firm Stratfor,  Jeremy Hammond pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to one count of computer fraud and abuse in response to charges that he hacked into the network of the privacy intelligence firm Stratfor, stealing millions of emails that eventually were given to WikiLeaks and published over the course of 2012. The plea agreement could carry a sentence of as much as 10 years in prison, as well as millions of dollars in restitution payments, though Hammond’s official sentence won’t be handed down until September. Hammond also told Judge Loretta A. Preska of Federal District Court in Manhattan that in 2011 and 2012 he had gained unauthorized access to Stratfor’s computer systems and several other groups, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Virtual Academy, the public safety department in Arizona, and Vanguard Defense Industries, which makes drones. 

"Now that I have pleaded guilty, it is a relief to be able to say that I did work with Anonymous to hack Stratfor, among other websites," Hammond said in a statement on last Tuesday. 

A petition posted to Change.org by Hammond’s brother Jason Hammond asks the judge in Hammond’s case, Loretta Preska, to sentence him to time served, given that he’s already spent 15 months in lockup. “Jeremy did nothing for personal gain and everything in hopes of making the world a better place,” reads Hammond’s brother’s petition. “Jeremy is facing a maximum sentence of ten years, but the minimum is zero. He has been in jail since March 2012 awaiting trial and now sentencing. It’s time for him to come home.”

-Source (Forbes & Huffington Post)

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Self Propagated LulzSec Leader 'Aush0k' Arrested By Australian Federal Police

Self Propagated LulzSec Leader 'Aush0k' Arrested in Sydney By Australian Federal Police (AFP)

Many of us knew Hector Xavier Monsegur widely known as 'Sabu' as the leader of infamous international hacker group LulzSec and Antisec. But this idea will surely be changed when you will hear the histrionic story, which came to light when a 24 old Australian proclaimed himself as the leader of notorious hacker collective group Lulz Security also known as LulzSec. The man, known online as Aush0k, is a senior Australian IT professional who works for the local arm of an international IT company. Police say he was in a "position of trust" within the company and had access to information on government clients which Aush0k manipulated and misused. According to Australian Federal Police a special investigation began less than two weeks ago when investigators found a government website had been compromised. The man has been charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment and one count of unauthorized access to a restricted computer system. He faces a maximum of 12 years in jail. AFP Commander Glen McEwen says the man posted in online forums frequented by other members of LulzSec that he was the group's leader. "There was no denials of his claims of being the leader," added McEwen. The man was charged and appeared in court on the very day of his arrest. And he will face Woy Woy Local Court again on May 15. 

While talking about this dramatic story of proclaimed LulzSec leader Aush0k, we would love to remind you the decent history when the leader of Anonymous affiliated LulzSec "Sabu," whose real name is Hector Xavier Monsegur, turned traitor to his community and became FBI informer and provided all the information on fellow hackers. As soon as the FBI gathered all the sensational information from Sabu, immediately we have seen the arrest of almost all the key members of LulzSec including Ryan Cleary, Jake Davis, Jeremy Hammond, Raynaldo Rivera, Cody Kretsinger and so on. And today we have seen the arrest of another LulzSec leader and key man, and this arrest is the first one done by the AFP. Earlier the arrest of Sabu proved very handy for the law and enforcement, may be this time also Aush0k's arrest can show them few more directions and can open few closed doors of investigation. So till time wait and stay tuned with VOGH for the updates on this story, also all the other cyber updates. 

-Source (ABC News)

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Pirate Bay Co-Founder Svartholm Warg Accused For Hacking, Fraud & Attempt to Steal Money From Bank

Pirate Bay Co-Founder Svartholm Warg Accused For Hacking, Fraud & Attempt to Steal Money From Swedish Bank 

The Pirate Bay also known as TPB is the most infamous website providing torrent files and magnet links to facilitate peer to peer file sharing. It is fact that many of us love the website, but it is also undeniable that if you are in the core team to run TPB then you are definitely sitting on the edge of legality. Many of you have already started terrifying! But I have the news which will not frighten you but surely will surely frighten Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, the co-founder of Pirate Bay. Gottfrid might get mercy if he could limited himself only into Pirate Bay, but in reality he did not and crossed all the lines. The 27-year-old’s Gottfrid widely known as 'Anakata' has been charged for hacking several Swedish companies and stealing their personal data. He and three others are also accused of attempting to make illegal online money transfers. Prosecutors claim Warg  along with three others—hacked IBM mainframes belonging to tax firm Logica and the bank to transfer money from various bank accounts. In total, the four men reportedly attempted to transfer just over US$900,000. Warg has also been accused of hacking into the databases of several Swedish businesses and the government’s federal taxing agency.

In his statement prosecutor Henrik Olin said - "A large amount of data from companies and agencies was taken during the hack, including a large amount of personal data, such as personal identity numbers (personnummer) of people with protected identities. I'd say that Svartholm Warg is the main person and brains behind the hacker attack. We've had a lot of theories but I can't find a motive in the evidence. What I can say is that we're talking about an incredibly technically advanced hack against a large server environment considered to have very high security and that can boost one's status in certain circles" 

Three other people have been indicted along with Svartholm Warg. They are all charged with serious fraud, attempted aggravated fraud, and aiding attempted aggravated fraud. According to the indictment, authorities seized a computer and chat transcripts of Svartholm Warg and the other suspects. Olin claims that it is the biggest investigation into a data intrusion ever conducted in the country. 

Here we want to remind you that Svartholm Warg, 27, was arrested in Cambodian and deported to Sweden in September last year due to an arrest warrant issued for him in relation to his conviction in the Pirate Bay trial. Since December, Svartholm Warg has been held in a prison in Mariefred in central Sweden where he is serving out a prison sentence related to his activities with The Pirate Bay.

-Source (The Local, RT)

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Angelina Jolie & Lady Gaga Became Victim of Ongoing Celebrity Hacking

Angelina Jolie & Lady Gaga Became Victim of Ongoing Celebrity Hacking 

Now a days it has became a fascination for cyber criminals to target and hack celebrities and public figures. Earlier we have seen similar scenario many a time. Last month an unnamed hacker released personal details of many public figure, national leaders, celebrities. The hacked data dubbed "The Secret Files" by the hackers contains personal information and credit reports (including social security numbers, details of their mortgages, addresses, and details of their credit card and banking details) was made public by those hackers on a website. Now we have past just a couple of weeks, yet again the same massacre took place, the hackers returned to the Internet after a brief hiatus and immediately hit six more. 

Angelina Jolie who played a key role in one of the most fine hacking movie named "Hackers" herself became victim to hackers in real life, as well as Jolie; Lady Gaga, NRA advocate Wayne LaPierre, Dennis Rodman, Michael Vick, Secret Service Director Julia Pierson and Robert De Niro. 

Like earlier, this time also the nature of the hack was similar to the previous the hackers have posted what they claim to be the social security numbers, mortgage amounts, credit card info, car loans, banking and other info for the celebs listed on their site. Last time, the website; where the hacker have posted those hacked credentials; were shutdown by the authorities. But it's now back up and running with a new domain extension (.re) that suggests it's based out of the French island of Réunion located off the coast of Madagascar -said TMZ in an exclusive report. Again also the same style were followed by the hacker group and leaving the very same message saying - "If you believe that God makes miracles, you have to wonder if Satan has a few up his sleeve."

According to sources - Jolie's page (prepared by the hacker) includes what is said to be her social security number as well as her credit report, which can be downloaded. There are addresses listed as well, but they are all business addresses, likely for her lawyer and other people she employs. The same information for Lady Gaga and Johansson is also available. However, Johansson's page also features a photo of her which became public through a previous hacking incident. The FBI has already started investigation, but so far no arrest have been made. In 2011 another high profile hack taken place, where the hacker targeted several celebrities like Scarlett Johansson & few more; while leaking nude photos. Later FBI carried out a special operation named 'Hackerazzi' which put a full stop in that issue and also FBI arrested the master mind named Christopher Chaney was sentenced to imprisonment after pleading guilty. 

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Gang of Cyber Criminals Arrested For Stealing $7 Million From Exchange Companies in Dubai

Gang of Cyber Criminals Arrested For Stealing $7 Million From Exchange Companies in Dubai 

Yet again another infamous gang of cyber criminals who were behind the hack of more than $7 Million from exchange companies in Dubai get busted by the Dubai Police. The special Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Dubai Police were behind these criminals for a long time, and after a certain period they successfully managed to track down and crack the cyber crime ring. Major General Khamis Matter Al Mazeina, acting chief of Dubai Police, said on last Sunday that a gang of Asians and Africans work with hackers in order to enter different websites and systems of different companies here in Dubai in order to transfer money inside and outside the country. “Cheques worth more than Dh6 billion have been found with the gang after their arrest,” he said. He also said that the gang was able to transfer more than Dh7 million from exchange companies in Dubai to their own accounts. From an exclusive report of Gulf News we came to know that the deputy director of the General Department of Criminal and Investigation for research, Colonel Salem Khalifa Al Rumaithi said the incident happened early this month when police received complaints about a scam and transfer of $2 million from a company’s account. “This was done through hacking the e-mails of this company by someone outside the UAE,” he said.

He said the hackers used to change the data of the transactions, billing, and then transfer the money into their accounts.

He said the first accused, an Asian identified as Kh. Q., used to receive the transferred funds. “He owns three luxury cars which he bought from the proceeds of such crimes,” he said. 

He said the role of the second suspect, another Asian identified as U.K., was to provide the gang with bank account numbers by creating fake companies on the internet and dealing with the victims’ accounts. “After the process of converting the money credited to the first accused U.K. used to take 3 per cent of the money and give the remaining to an African man who was the mastermind. According to Lt Colonel Saeed Al Hajeri, director of the electronic investigation department, the third suspect was identified as D.Q. from Africa.

“The role of this suspect was as a mediator between the gang members and manipulating the business processes and changing the bank accounts to any other account,” he said. The suspect admitted that he was part of the Dh4 billion scam and another Dh6 million scam.

Lt Col Al Hajeri said Dubai Police had taken the necessary measures to obtain sufficient information from the rest of the gang members who operate outside the country in African countries through Interpol. Brigadier Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, director of CID, said the police team worked on arresting the gang quickly.

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A Man From India Jailed For Posting "Communal & Inflammatory" Post on Facebook (#Censorship)

A Man From India Jailed For Posting "Communal & Inflammatory" Post on Facebook (#Censorship) 

Freedom of social media in India has been revoked, as the Indian govt has implemented several policy by which they made the social network completely censored. Though this step has been criticized randomly but the decisions has remain unchanged. And the result is in front of us; when a man from Agra get busted. The incident occurs immediately after he made a posts on social networking site Facebook targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, union Communications Minister Kapil Sibal and Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. According to police the post which the man from Agra made violated the policy of Indian govt and that's why it is taken as "communal and inflammatory." the man named Sanjay Chowdhary, a resident of the Dayalbagh suburb of Agra, was arrested late Monday and his laptop, sim card and data card impounded.

Police in Agra, about 360 km from here, said the arrest, which some see as an attempt to muzzle freedom of speech and expression on social networking sites, that the arrest was made on "specific information" about certain "communal and inflammatory" posts by Chowdhary. However, officials here admitted that the "case became hypersensitive after some remarks were made on the SP chief".

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Agra, Subhash Chandra Dubey said police had acted "purely on law and order basis" in the matter.

"We are not involved in the political angle of the whole issue, our concern were the inflammatory comments and posts on the Facebook wall of this man and we acted to prevent any communal flare up," Dubey told the media. Some officials, however, said the case was "fast tracked" once cartoons lampooning the three leaders were posted on his Facebook wall.

Soon after his arrest, the inflammatory posts were deleted from his Facebook profile and later his account was deactivated. Chowdhury, a civil engineer and chairman of a public school, was booked under sections 153 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66 A of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

"We have arrested him and he is being sent to jail under the due process of law," a police official said.

-Source (Yahoo News)

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3 Russian Cyber Criminal Who Was The Master Mind of Banking Trojan 'Gozi' Charged in New York

3 Russian Cyber Criminal Who Was The Master Mind of Banking Trojan 'Gozi' Charged in New York 

Yet again another serious issue of cyber crime get resolved when the FBI tracked and figured out the master mind of infamous 'Gozi banking Trojan' which effected more than millions of system world wide, including a handful at NASA, leading to tens of millions of dollars in lost banking funds and damages to computer systems and networks. Three alleged international cyber criminals from Russia, responsible for creating and distributing 'Gozi' that infected over one million computers and caused tens of millions of dollars in losses charged in Manhattan Federal Court. Mihai Ionut Paunescu aged 28, a Romanian, Deniss Calovskis, 27, a Latvian, and Nikita Vladimirovich Kuzmin, 25, of the Russian Federation, are charged with computer intrusion, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and access device fraud. Federal authorities said the three were arrested last week; Kuzmin is being held in New York, while Paunescu is in custody in Romania and Calovskis in Latvia. 

According to the press release of FBI -Deniss Calovskis, a/k/a “Miami,” a Latvian national who allegedly wrote some of the computer code that made the Gozi virus so effective, was arrested in Latvia in November 2012. Mihai Ionut Paunescu, a/k/a “Virus,” a Romanian national who allegedly ran a “bulletproof hosting” service that enabled cyber criminals to distribute the Gozi virus, the Zeus trojan, and other notorious malware and to conduct other sophisticated cyber crimes, was arrested in Romania in December 2012. 

The cases are being handled by the Complex Frauds Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Lai, Nicole Friedlander, and Thomas G.A. Brown, along with Trial Attorney Carol Sipperly of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice on the Paunescu case, are in charge of the prosecution. The charges contained in the Indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Defendant	Age and Residence	Charges	Maximum Penalty
Nikita Kuzmin	25; Moscow, Russia	Conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud; conspiracy to commit access device fraud; access device fraud; conspiracy to commit computer intrusion; computer intrusion	95 years in prison
Deniss Calovskis	27; Riga, Latvia	Conspiracy to commit bank fraud; conspiracy to commit access device fraud; conspiracy to commit computer intrusion; conspiracy to commit wire fraud; conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft	67 years in prison
Mihai Ionut Paunescu	28; Bucharest, Romania	Conspiracy to commit computer intrusion; conspiracy to commit bank fraud; conspiracy to commit wire fraud	60 years in prison

Brief About Gozi:-
The Gozi virus is malicious computer code, or “malware,” that steals personal bank account information, including usernames and passwords, from the users of affected computers. It was named by private sector information security experts in the U.S. who, in 2007, discovered that previously unrecognized malware was stealing personal bank account information from computers across Europe on a vast scale, while remaining virtually undetectable in the computers it infected. To date, the Gozi virus has infected over one million victim computers worldwide, among them at least 40,000 computers in the U.S., including computers belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as well as computers in Germany, Great Britain, Poland, France, Finland, Italy, Turkey, and elsewhere, and it has caused tens of millions of dollars in losses to the individuals, businesses, and government entities whose computers were infected.

The Gozi virus was distributed to victims’ computers in several different ways. In one method, the virus was disguised as an apparently benign .pdf document which, when opened, secretly installed the Gozi virus on the victim’s computer. Once installed, the Gozi virus—which was intentionally designed to be undetectable by anti-virus software—collected data from the infected computer in order to capture personal bank account information including usernames and passwords. That data was then transmitted to various computer servers controlled by the cyber criminals who used the Gozi virus. These cyber criminals then used the personal bank account information to transfer funds out of the victims’ bank accounts and ultimately into their own personal possession.

For Detailed Information Click Here

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FBI Wanted Cyber Criminal Hamza Bendelladj Arrested in Thailand

FBI Wanted Cyber Criminal Hamza Bendelladj Arrested in Thailand

Another FBI listed cyber criminal get nabbed. The suspect named Hamza Bendelladj of 24 yrs have been arrested in late Sunday night during a layover at Thailand’s international airport while traveling from Malaysia to Egypt. According to the officials Bendelladj is an Algerian national wanted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegedly making tens of millions of dollars from cyber crime. Police confiscated two laptops, a tablet computer, a satellite phone and a number of external hard drives from Bendelladj. According to the officials FBI had been pursuing Bendelladj for nearly three years. U.S. authorities believe the suspect hacked private accounts in more than 217 banks and financial companies worldwide, causing about $10 million in losses per transaction. After this arrest, he will be extradited to the U.S. state of Georgia, where a district court has issued an arrest warrant. In an exclusive report Bangkok Post said -a smiling Bendelladj, who was present at the press conference, denied claims by the Thai authorities that he was on the FBI's top-10 most wanted list. "I'm not in the top 10, maybe just 20th or 50th," the Algerian suspect said with a laugh. "I am not a terrorist."

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More Leaks are Coming in 2013 Said WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

More Leaks are Coming in 2013 Said WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

The government are trying their best to dominate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, while blocking public search containing WikiLeaks, blocking banking donations, keeping him in under house arrest. But its is a undeniable that the enthusiasm and the will power of Assange can never be ruled or dominated. Again the above fact came into light when Julian Assange announced in a defiant speech from the balcony of Ecuadorian embassy here as his supporters shouted, and sang Christmas carols. In his speech Assange said that WikiLeaks have planned to release over one million new secret documents that would affect "every country in the world" 

It was his second ``balcony’’ address since he sought refuge there six months ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over allegations of sexual assault. And he made clear he had no intention of leaving the cramped mission which he described as ``my home, my office and my refuge’’ until ``this immoral investigation continues’’.

Referring to the impasse over his extradition, Mr Assange said that as long as long as the American government sought to prosecute him and his native country, Australia, refused to defend his journalism, he would remain in the embassy. But, he said, he was open to negotiations. "However, the door is open, and the door has always been open, for anyone who wishes to use standard procedures to speak to me or guarantee my safe passage," he said.

Mr Assange has been given asylum by Ecuador but is prevented by the British Government from leaving the country arguing that it is under a legal obligation to extradite him to Sweden. He will be arrested the minute he steps out of the embassy. Police say he broke his bail conditions when he sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy without informing them. Mr Assange claims the case against him is politically motivated and fears that Sweden would hand him over to Americans who have threatened to prosecute him for publishing confidential diplomatic cables.

While talking about Jullian Assange and WikiLeaks, we would like to give you reminder that in this year we got several leaks from WikiLeaks, among them -'Detainee Policies' containing more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the United States Department of Defense covering the rules and procedures for detainees in U.S. military custody. SpyFiles, GI Files (Global Intelligence Files & Five Million E-mails From Stratfor) & The Syria Files Containing 2.5 Million Emails of Syrian Politicians, Govt, Ministries & Companies.

-Source (The Hindu)

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Hollywood Celebrities Nude Photo Hacker Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

Hollywood Celebrities Nude Photo Hacker Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison 

Photo hacking case of Hollywood celebrities takes another direction, as Christopher Chaney, who pleaded guilty to hacking into the e-mail accounts of Scarlett Johansson and other celebrities including Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and few others, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by the  federal judge in Los Angeles. Chaney was arrested last year as part of a year-long investigation  of FBI dubbed Operation Hackerazzi. At a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Court judge S. James Otero said that Chaney's conduct demonstrated a "callous disregard to the victims," some 50 in total, including two non-celebrities who the judge noted was stalked by Chaney for more than 10 years. The prison term was accompanied by an order to pay $66,179 in restitution. Chaney pleaded guilty to nine offences, including illegal wire-tapping and unauthorized access to computers. In his guilty plea, Chaney admitted to having repeatedly hacked email accounts over a period of at least eleven months. He hacked into email accounts by taking advantage of the "forgotten password" feature on web interfaces and using publicly available information to answer security questions. 

Chaney admitted that as his hacking scheme became more extensive, he began using a proxy service called “Hide My IP” because he wanted to “cover his tracks” and not be discovered by law enforcement agents. Even after his home computers were seized by law enforcement, Chaney used another computer to hack into another victim’s e-mail account. As a result of his hacking scheme, Chaney obtained private photographs and confidential documents, including business contracts, scripts, letters, driver’s license information, and Social Security information. On several occasions, after hacking into victims’ accounts, Chaney sent e-mails from the hacked accounts, fraudulently posing as the victims and requesting more private photographs. Chaney e-mailed many of the stolen photographs to others, including another hacker and two gossip websites. As a result, some of the stolen photographs were posted on the Internet.

"I don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry," Chaney said. "I could be sentenced to never use a computer again and I wouldn't care." For detailed information about this case click here.

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NASA & UFO Hacker Gary McKinnon Will Not Face Prosecution in UK

NASA & UFO Hacker Gary McKinnon Will Not Face Prosecution in UK

Infamous NASA hacker Gary McKinnon who broke into US government computer system, while hunting for evidence of UFOs and fought a long fight against extradition, has been told that he will now not face prosecution in the UK. After discussing the case with US Department of Justice and the police, The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided the appropriate jurisdiction for the McKinnon case to be heard is the US. According to Karen Todner, McKinnon's solicitor, the decision on Friday is an "interesting" one given that he was first arrested and questioned by UK police.

The reasons for that decision were:

1. The harm occurred in the US - the activity was directed against the military infrastructure of the US;
2. An investigation had already been launched in the US;
3. There were a large number of witnesses, most of whom were located in the US;
4. All of the physical evidence (with the exception of Mr McKinnon's computer) was located in the US;
5. The US prosecutors were able to bring a case that reflected the full extent of Mr McKinnon's alleged criminality; and
6. The bulk of the unused material was located in the US. Given the nature of the offences, this inevitably included highly sensitive information and the US courts were best placed to deal with any issues arising in relation to this material.

In a statement, the CPS's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Kier Starmer QC, and Mark Rowley, Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, said that they had convened a joint panel to discuss the issue and decide whether a new criminal investigation should take place. They decided that the original reasoning for the trial being held in the US still held, and looked into the possibility of holding the trial in the UK. This would have involved transferring witnesses and sensitive physical evidence to the UK. The panel consulted with the US Department of Justice as to whether this would be possible, given that they believed that "the prospects of a conviction against Mr McKinnon, which reflects the full extent of his alleged criminality, are not high".

According to the statement, the US authorities "indicated to us that they would be willing to co-operate with a prosecution in England and Wales if that would serve the interests of justice." However, the US authorities did not feel that transferring all the witnesses and evidence to the UK would be in that interest, given the panel's representations. The statement goes on to say: "That is a decision the US authorities are fully entitled to reach and we respect their decision." On that basis, the panel concluded that a new criminal investigation should not be started and the Assistant Commissioner accepted that advice.

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Two Nigerians Arrested For Hacking into Mail Servers of Ghana Armed Force & Stealing $13,978

Two Nigerians Arrested For Hacking into Mail Servers of Ghana Armed Force & Stealing $13,978

Two middle aged Nigerians have been arrested for hacking into mail server of Ghana Armed Force (GAF). The suspects, Peter Okechukwu, 32, and Emmanuel Ifedi, 31, were arrested by officials of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service at a branch of the United Bank of Africa (UBA). In a report Ghana Business News said-  these two cyber criminal get busted in Accra  while attempting to divert $13,978 belonging to, Ghanaian peacekeepers after they had succeeded in hacking into the e-mails of GAF. According to the Director-General of the CID, Commissioner of Police Mr Prosper Agblor, in November this year the two suspects managed to enter the e-mails of Continental African Trading Limited (CATAL) and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) GHANBATT 76 and intercepted all electronic communications between the two parties. CATAL, an international organisation, had been supplying home appliances' to Ghanaian peacekeeping troops on various missions at different locations in the world. 

Recently, CATAL was contacted, as usual, by the GAF to supply home appliances to UNIFIL GHANBATT 76 peacekeeping troops in Lebanon. Mr Agblor said there was correspondence concerning the supply of the items between CATAL and the military through the Internet. Along the line, he said, the e-mails between the GAF and CATAL were hacked into by the two Nigerians, who intercepted all mails from both ends and replied them as if the replies were coming from the rightful receivers of the e-mails. 

He said the two suspects, using the identity of CATAL, sent an e-mail to the GAF instructing it to pay $13,978 into a UBA account number 01011651102235 as part payment for the supply of the goods. Upon receipt of the information, the GAF transferred $13,978 into the account as instructed by the two suspects.

Mr Agblor said CATAL realized that the GAF had suddenly stopped communicating with the company on matters relating to the transfer of the money and so it followed up with a phone call and detected that the GAF had paid $13,978 into an account number supplied by CATAL. 

He said it was at that stage that the two organisations realised that someone had hacked into their e-mails and quickly reported the issue to the Documentation and Visa Fraud Unit of the CID. Mr Agblor said the Business Development Manager of CATAL reported the case to the police and checks at the bank revealed that the money had not yet been cashed by the suspects. The police quickly mounted surveillance at the bank, awaiting the arrival of the suspects to cash the money. 

According to the CID boss, on November 11, 2012, Okechukwu, who happened to be the owner of the said account, was arrested when he turned up at the bank to cash the amount. Upon interrogation, the police said, Okechukwu admitted to the offence but mentioned Ifedi as the master brain behind the whole deal and led the police to Ifedi's house at Ashaley Botwe, an Accra suburb. Mr Agblor said investigations were still ongoing, after which the two would be put before court.

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LulZsec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Denied Bail & Have to Face 30 Years in Prison

LulZsec Hacker Jeremy Hammond Denied Bail & Have to Face 30 Years in Prison 

More trouble coming towards LulzSec, as the bail appeal of former LulzSec hacker Jeremy Hammond has been denied by the court. Hammond widely known as "Anarchaos" have to face a potential sentence of 30 years to life for alleged hacking crimes is probably enough to get the attention of most 27-year-olds. And that is what U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska told Hammond last week that he could face if he is convicted on all counts. Hammond, much better known in the world of hactivism by various online aliases including "Anarchaos," "sup_g," "burn," "yohoho," "POW," "tylerknowsthis," and "crediblethreat," has been held without bail since his arrest in March on charges connected with last year's hacking of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based international intelligence broker, by AntiSec, an offshoot of LulzSec, which is in turn an offshoot of the hacktivist collective Anonymous.

The three-count federal indictment, brought in the Southern District of New York, charged him with conspiracy to commit computer hacking, computer hacking and conspiracy to commit access device fraud. More specifically, the government alleges that starting last December, Hammond and others from AntiSec stole information from about 860,000 Stratfor subscribers, including emails, account information, and data from about 60,000 credit cards. The government alleges that he published some of that information online, and used some of the stolen credit card data to run up at least $700,000 in unauthorized charges. He is also accused of giving about five million internal emails to WikiLeaks, which were published under the name The Global Intelligence Files.

Apparently unknown to Hammond, however, was that the then-leader of AntiSec, Hector Xavier Monsegur, a New York hacker known by the alias "Sabu," had been arrested the previous June and agreed to cooperate with the FBI. So, at least some of the Stratfor information Hammond uploaded was to a honey pot server maintained by the FBI. At a hearing last week, Hammond was denied bail, based on Judge Preska's determination that he was both a danger to the community and a flight risk. He had also recently been added to the Terrorist Watch List, said Sue Crabtree, a member of the Jeremy Hammond Solidarity Network and a spectator at his bail hearing. Crabtree said Hammond didn't even have a passport. The bail denial sparked another round of protest from Hammond's supporters. Anonymous published a message on Pastebin demanding that Preska recuse herself for conflict of interest. The group said her husband, Thomas J. Kavaler, was among Stratfor's clients, and therefore one of the alleged victims of the hack. Kavaler is a partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in New York City.

"Judge Preska by proxy is a victim of the very crime she intends to judge Jeremy Hammond for," Anonymous wrote in a message posted last Friday. "Judge Preska has failed to disclose the fact that her husband is a client of Stratfor and recuse herself from Jeremy's case, therefore violating multiple Sections of Title 28 of the United States Code."

Beyond that, a writer identified only as "NA" on the website FreeHammond.com, argued that "Hacktivists are not criminals! Jeremy is alleged of a crime that has exposed the corruption and exploitation of the very State prosecuting him," and suggested entrapment by the FBI as well.

Renowned security expert Kevin Mitnick said it is possible that the government is trying to scare Hammond to get him to cooperate. Or, it could be designed to send a message to Anonymous members that what they view as sticking it to the man could yield some very serious consequences. Hammond is scheduled to go to trial sometime next year.

-Source (CSO Online)

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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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