I read this article earlier. I don't understand the following line from the chatlog:
> Topiary: better not hit me on April fool's day
is this a joke that has gone over my head, or are the logs indeed from March?
Edit: looks like I'm a fool, the logs are indeed from March and are unrelated to this incident. I thought the article was using them as proof of this incident being part of "duping" the police, but it's actually being used to show Topiary from England != Lulzsec topiary. My mistake. Will leave comment in case anyone else makes the same mistake.
Wasn't topiary supposedly the guy who was doing the interview during which the WBC got hacked? If so, they have his voice on tape. Certainly wasn't British. At the time I thought French, but Swedish would fit.
The slightly annoying thing is that we may never know. The real topiary is not going to reappear if they've arrested the wrong guy. The police are certainly not going to give up their arrest. And presumably they've got this guy in custody on something. So I assume they can make the charges stick. I'm sure they've arrested him under his real name for something he actually did, not topiary for being a member of Lulzsec.
The public certainly don't care. It only matters that justice appears to be done.
So it looks to me like everyone is happy (except the guy who got arrested of course).
Makes one wonder if their monikers are really tightly tied to real persons. Maybe the core group uses their names interchangeably and when one of them is ousted with a raid, some one else from the group assumes the online identity.
Not all that surprising. Eventually the LulzSec people will get popped inadvertently, but they'll run law enforcement in circles for quite a while before it happens. LulzSec and Anonymous thrive on ambiguity and confusion so they can keep piling on the lies and deception. They have no need to get their story straight, just keep law enforcement in a cloud of doubt. This entire chatlog could be bullshit, a little disinfo to muddy the waters. If Swedish Topiary gets popped you release some logs revealing yourself to be Shetland Topiary trolling the Swede.
The explanation in this article seems pretty tenuous and the title could at least do with being "British police might have been duped by LulzSec into arresting the wrong person".
I think they just need to get someone. Doesn't really matter who. Find some random gullable 13 year old wanna-be-hacker kid that ran LOIC for a while. Parade him in front of the media and judges, send him off to juvie, handshakes and bonuses for everyone involved... Police, prosecutors, media, all get to pat theselves on the back. That is what this is really about.
I rather see it as highlighting a weakness in the system. Arresting someone on suspicion without evidence tying the human to the twitter account and to the actual crime is a sad state of affairs. People should be made aware that this kind of thing cam happen with little recourse for the mistakes of the police.
This seems likely - the "police are dumbasses" mentality, and popular image of LulzSec as clever hackers really doing it for "lulz", allow them to present stories like this -and- gain support.
Not to dismiss the possibility entirely, of course - but it is awfully consistent with their previous attempts to hide the fact that they're on a sinking ship.
[+] [-] citricsquid|14 years ago|reply
> Topiary: better not hit me on April fool's day
is this a joke that has gone over my head, or are the logs indeed from March?
Edit: looks like I'm a fool, the logs are indeed from March and are unrelated to this incident. I thought the article was using them as proof of this incident being part of "duping" the police, but it's actually being used to show Topiary from England != Lulzsec topiary. My mistake. Will leave comment in case anyone else makes the same mistake.
[+] [-] wccrawford|14 years ago|reply
Not that it matters... In the end, it looks like the real Topiary is in a different country altogether from where the arrest was made.
Absolutely hilarious.
How long before the police discover their mistake, I wonder?
[+] [-] wbhart|14 years ago|reply
The slightly annoying thing is that we may never know. The real topiary is not going to reappear if they've arrested the wrong guy. The police are certainly not going to give up their arrest. And presumably they've got this guy in custody on something. So I assume they can make the charges stick. I'm sure they've arrested him under his real name for something he actually did, not topiary for being a member of Lulzsec.
The public certainly don't care. It only matters that justice appears to be done.
So it looks to me like everyone is happy (except the guy who got arrested of course).
[+] [-] astine|14 years ago|reply
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetlandic
[+] [-] hugh3|14 years ago|reply
He might. Why? For the lulz, of course.
[+] [-] nikhilgk|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] r00fus|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ahi|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jgrahamc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hello123_345|14 years ago|reply
* the antilulzsec movement is missleading information created by lulzsec themselves
* chatlogs are just text. they do not prove anythinh
* i guess they raided the guys home not without reason...
[+] [-] SoftwareMaven|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rektide|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdtsc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DNeb|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] delinka|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aw3c2|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rmason|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dwyer|14 years ago|reply
> Topiary: (as you know I stole this nickname from a troll last December, didn't work out so well)
Give me a break.
[+] [-] zhazam|14 years ago|reply
Not to dismiss the possibility entirely, of course - but it is awfully consistent with their previous attempts to hide the fact that they're on a sinking ship.
[+] [-] cfgvjkljhgfb|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]