LulzSec ‘Leader’ Sabu Helped Feds Stop 300 Attacks
Hector Monsegur provided significant help in tracking down members of hacktivist groups and cyber criminals, court documents show
US law enforcement agencies prevented at least 300 cyber attacks with help from apparent LulzSec leader Hector Monsegur, otherwise known as Sabu, according to documents filed in an American court.
Monsegur, who is due to be sentenced this week, helped identify vulnerabilities and exploits that could have been used against the US government, including NASA and Congress, the document read. He was also said to have provided information on vulnerabilities at a water utility in a US city and a foreign energy company.
Former LulzSec chief helping Feds
The information obtained by Monsegur often helped the FBI identify the exact location of LulzSec and Anonymous hackers too, according to the file, and provided assistance that led to the arrest of Jeremy Hammond, who was the FBI’s most wanted cyber criminal at the time of his arrest.
It was stated that Monsegur went undercover to gather evidence, which exposed “a subject’s” part in hacking a foreign government.
“Monsegur’s consistent and corroborated historical information, coupled with his substantial proactive cooperation and other evidence developed in the case, contributed directly to the identification, prosecution and conviction of eight of his major co-conspirators,” the court document read.
“Working sometimes literally around the clock, at the direction of law enforcement, Monsegur engaged his co-conspirators in online chats that were critical to confirming their identities and whereabouts. During some of the online chats, at the direction of law enforcement, Monsegur convinced LulzSec members to provide him digital evidence of the hacking activities they claimed to have previously engaged in, such as logs regarding particular criminal hacks.
“The amount of loss prevented by Monsegur’s actions is difficult to fully quantify, but even a conservative estimate would yield a loss prevention figure in the millions of dollars.”
The documents suggested Monsegur’s family had faced physical threats from people upset by his cooperation,
Due to his substantial cooperation, the US government has asked the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for a significant reduction in his sentence.
Since he was involved in a large number of attacks personally, and directly causing between $1 million and $2.5 million in damages, Monsegur was facing up to 317 months in prison, the document read. He also admitted to owning an unlicensed firearm and using marijuana.
What do you know about Internet security? Find out with our quiz!
