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FBI arrests LulzSec member "recursion" for Sony Pictures hack

39 points| alvivar | 14 years ago |arstechnica.com | reply

45 comments

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[+] patrickod|14 years ago|reply
It's hardly surprising that these people are being caught. Using a VPN service that resides primarily in the USA, the same jurisdiction in which your attacks are being carried out, seems a bit shortsighted.
[+] laluser|14 years ago|reply
Exactly. At the level that these guys were playing at, I would assume that they would have protected themselves in a wiser manner
[+] shin_lao|14 years ago|reply
Actually I'm not surprised. They got too comfortable. They got lazy. Properly covering your tracks is extremely cumbersome and boring.
[+] guelo|14 years ago|reply
It would be great if they would go to trial so that maybe we could find out how the FBI tracked them down. My suspicion is that it's all an abuse of spying laws intended for terrorism. Unfortunately these guys will probably all plead.
[+] Steko|14 years ago|reply
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201138/7643/Proxy-l...

"According to HideMyAss.com, “…services such as ours do not exist to hide people from illegal activity. We will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if it has become evident that your account has been used for illegal activities.”

The service stores logs for 30-days when it comes to Website proxy services, and they store the connecting IP address, as well as time stamps for those using the VPN offerings."

[+] 9999|14 years ago|reply
Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Liu Xiaobo, Recursion. One of these is not like the others.
[+] sophacles|14 years ago|reply
You're right. Neslon Mandela led and participated in a group which committed violent acts of sabotage and resistance (including human right violations according to Mandela himself).

I know you mean Recursion, because you are not on the same side as him, but at least try to pick examples that don't undermine your own freaking point.

[+] antimora|14 years ago|reply
In that can how is HideMyAss.com useful? Wasn't the service able to guarantee the anonymity?
[+] brownie|14 years ago|reply
Not for illegal activity, according to an article on Tech Herald:

"Logs, seized equipment, and testimony from those arrested, seems to be the undoing for those connected to Anonymous and LulzSec. ...According to HideMyAss.com, ...services such as ours do not exist to hide people from illegal activity. We will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if it has become evident that your account has been used for illegal activities

The service stores logs for 30-days when it comes to Website proxy services, and they store the connecting IP address, as well as time stamps for those using the VPN offerings."

Furthermore - if you're using a VPN service to stay anonymous, you're only staying anonymous from whatever you're accessing, not the VPN service itself.

[+] infinity|14 years ago|reply
I wouldn't trust this service, because I can't find any information about who is running this service - at least not in the few minutes I have spend clicking around on their site. Maybe there is some info somewhere, I have not found it.

In another comment a quote from a different article was mentioned regarding the Terms of Service. I could not find a page about the terms of service. Maybe it's me, but I think that these informations should be easy to find on a site.

Some other interesting points about this service are explored in an article by rsnake from ha.ckers.org:

http://ha.ckers.org/blog/20100104/anonymous-proxy-woes/

"So yeah, please don’t use CGI proxies, unless you really know what you’re doing. They really very rarely increase your security. Most of the time, they just decrease it, as a matter of fact."

[+] Jach|14 years ago|reply
I always thought the main purpose of things like HideMyAss.com are to get around stupid filters installed at your workplace or school. Thankfully neither for me have filters, but I've visited my old high school a number of times and I just throw everything through an ssh connection to my home machine.
[+] Steko|14 years ago|reply
Maybe try 8 proxies next time?

(realize he was not actually behind 7 proxies)

[+] tsotha|14 years ago|reply
Good. Throw the book at him.
[+] sophacles|14 years ago|reply
What a great idea! Now we can focus on how evil this guy is, and not have to talk about Sony who in an act of pure altruism is requiring any users of their service to waive their right to hold Sony liable for not bothering to protect things they have a legal obligation actually protect. (Note: under no circumstances is allowing an sql injection attack evidence of anything other than criminal neglect and those who have a susceptible product should be just as liable as those who manufacture faulty vehicles.)
[+] maeon3|14 years ago|reply
Arrest these evil-doers, copying information and defacing images.

In other news, why is the FBI suffering from such a shortage of willing hackers? More hypocrisy after the break.

[+] DNeb|14 years ago|reply
Hope he's still lul'ing