Anonymous Hacker Arrested After Rescue By Disney Ship

An alleged member of the Anonymous hacker collective should have a dramatic tale to tell in prison after being arrested by the FBI.

The tale involves fleeing the United States by boat, a rescue at sea near Cuba by a Disney cruise ship and then his eventual arrest by the FBI in Miami.

Lost At Sea

31-year-old Martin Gottesfeld is allegedly a member of the hacker collective Anonymous and had been under investigation by the FBI since October 2014, according to NBC News.

It seems that a couple of weeks ago, Gottesfeld and his wife went on the run and fled the United States. The FBI began a manhunt after it recieved calls from the Gottesfeld’s boss and worried relatives.

Gottesfeld was eventually arrested by the FBI in Miami after the FBI apparently learned from one of their agents in the Bahamas that the couple were on a Disney cruise ship. Gottesfeld and his wife were not passengers on the cruise ship, but rather were rescued at sea after their sailboat ran into difficulties near Cuba.

“Gottesfeld and his wife were not passengers on the ship but rather had been picked up in a sailboat, not far from Cuba,” court papers apparently state. “The sailboat had run into trouble and Gottesfeld and his wife had placed a distress call, to which the cruise ship responded.”

The affidavit did not reveal the destination of the couple, but did note that among their possessions was luggage and “three laptop computers.”

Gottesfeld was arrested and charged with conspiracy for allegedly helping to launch a computer attack on Boston Children’s Hospital back in April 2014. He had apparently posted a Youtube video, in the name of Anonymous, in which he called for action against Boston Children’s Hospital over the treatment of a patient.

The patent was reportedly a teenage girl who was the subject of a high-profile custody battle in the United States between her parents and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The battle centred over allegations of abuse and medical treatment for a digestive order.

The parents eventually won their custody battle.

The resulting Anonymous attack is said to have taken down hospital’s network for “at least seven days,” including the hospital’s website. The cyber-attack apparently resulted in $300,000 in damage.

After Gottesfeld’s arrest, Boston Children’s Hospital acknowledged publicly thanked the FBI for apprehending the hacker.

Social Justice

Anonymous is well known for championing social causes and its ambition to bring people and governments to “justice.”

Last month it took down the website of the Japanese Narita International Airport in retaliation for Japan’s barring of a prominent animal welfare activist. It previously shut down Nissan’s global websites in protest against the Taiji whale and dolphin cull.

Anonymous has also recently targeted white supremacist groups such as the KKK, as well as Islamic State and its supporters.

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