Hacker and Alleged Anonymous Member Arrested
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Softpedia reports that a hacker known only as "Carl" was arrested by French authorities on April 7th in Paris on charges of unauthorized access, data theft, and organized fraud.
The charges stem from statements the hacker made April 1st on a French television program, "Complément d'enquête" (Further investigation), where he bragged about hacking into private computer networks and stealing information.
"Carl" had gleefully claimed to have successfully hacked systems belonging to the French Army and defense contractor the Thales Group, and also said he sold stolen information on Internet black markets.
Thales then filed a formal complaint which initiated the investigation.
Upon examination of "Carl's" computer, authorities found hundreds of stolen credit card and bank account details.
The French program's focus was on hacktivism, and "Carl" had asserted that he was an active participant in the rogue movement known as Anonymous.
Anonymous is known to have targeted the websites of PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, PostFinance Bank, Amazon, Bank of America and others who had halted business relations with WikiLeaks, as well as for the devastating breach of HBGary Federal's systems.
Most recently, the hacktivist collective has attacked websites of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in retaliation for the organization's pursuit of copyright enforcement, and similarly attacked websites belonging to Sony to protest the company's lawsuits against two PlayStation hackers.
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