FBI raids multiple sites in Anonymous hack probe

The FBI has conducted more than a dozen raids and made more than a dozen arrests across the United States in connection with the Anonymous computer hacking investigation, U.S. government officials tells CBS News.

The officials described the sweep as a "major" law enforcement operation and say there have been 14 arrests nationwide.

FBI agents conducted raids at four New York residences as well as locations in California, New Jersey and Florida Tuesday in connection with the investigation.

Agents seized computers and computer accessories under search warrants at four homes of suspected hackers in Baldwin and Merrick both on Long island, in Brooklyn and the Bronx.

The allegations are that the network of hackers allegedly carried out distributed denial of service attacks on numerous victims including corporations and their websites.

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The amorphous, loosely organized group of hackers sympathetic to WikiLeaks has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks against corporate and government websites around the world.

The news comes as Anonymous claimed a cyberattack that shut down the website of Rupert Murdoch's Times newspaper.

Special section: Murdoch in Crisis

Last month, nineteen-year-old Ryan Cleary was arrested following a joint Scotland Yard-FBI investigation into cyberattacks claimed by Anonymous and a smaller spinoff group, Lulz Security.

As CNET's Don Reisinger reports, law enforcement has had some success targeting Anonymous members. Last year, an alleged 16-year-old member of the group was arrested in the Netherlands. In January, five people were arrested for allegedly having ties to Anonymous. Following those arrests, the FBI executed more than 40 search warrants to root out Anonymous members in the U.S.

Anonymous, known for attacks on the Church of Scientology and Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, claimed credit for disrupting the websites of Visa and Mastercard in December when the credit card companies stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.

[Overruled1]

The feds better get their priorities straight, Anonymous and LuLz are watchdog hackers, patriots, and the FBI is going after them, while the pentagon was hacked by foreign nations (China, China, China and Russia) with intent to commit harm to our nation.
WAKE UP AMERICA....learn to hack, so as ying turns to yang.

[rocketjl]

Sorry America has a different view than you. Say what you will, it is people like these that scare the heck out of folks more than nukes in Iran. Too bad you can't understand it. You buy a computer for your friends to hack. I vote that we shoot them all on sight.

[billpl-2009]

arrest murdoch and his fox news clan for hacking into the ignorance of america


...and kiss "bassist" gene simmons?!?
oxymoron

[BC Kelly]

.

Bob Sheiffer

Of ALL people - for YOU to "Editorialize" at end of a Story ?

Please, you know better. That was not Proper Journalism.

.

Granted, the idea of comparing 'hacks' to 'sit-ins' may be a reach
But it's not your place to decide, and then spout off about it

You set a terrible example for Fledgling Reporters
Especially those who are 'wannabe' Journalist
And now may follow your lead in this regard

Hope you are VERY contrite for what you did

Let's call it your "FOX Moment"

And never again at CBS

.


.

[rwsmith29456]

Hackers sympathetic with Wikileaks? Don't make the mistake of making folk heroes out of these criminals because they hack government and business. It's stealing and does plenty of damage.

[KevinSchmidt]

I take it you are all for prosecuting the Wall Street fraudsters, who along with their fellow bank robbers at the big banks, committed the greatest act of fraud and monetary theft in history, stealing hundreds of billions of dollars from all over the world and throwing every country into the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Isn't that the real story here? Isn't that one of the reasons why we have Anonymous and Wikileaks in the first place? Isn't their purpose to call attention to the Gilded Fascist Elite, their corporations and their puppet governments, including the US, who are killing and looting the world's citizens?

[documemts]

State security: Hacked! State police: Hacked! Political Fundraisers: Hacked! PAC committee members: Hacked! Time and Effort are rewarded with access. Relax, have some tea.

[Galactus9]

They need to make an example of these hackers. Too often they are treated with kid gloves or made famous for their criminal actions.

[KevinSchmidt]

I agree!

I think they should make examples of Murdoch and the rest of his FAUXonymous gang of propaganda spewing, people smearing, privacy stealing hackers!

I say sell off all of their propaganda empire in pieces. Then take all of that money and use it to teach every illiterate person on the planet how to read.

Then confiscate all of the assets of these FAUX Gnus hackers, and use it to teach critical thinking skills to everyone on the planet, particularity, skills that let you know when anyone in the mainstream media or in politics is giving you FAUX information.

Then take off the kid gloves.

Now throw Rudeperp Murdoch and his fellow hackers in prison until they rot... after their fair trials, of course!

[KevinSchmidt]

They should also make examples out of international thieves VISA, Mastercard and Paypal for stealing tens of millions of dollars from Julian Assange and WikiLeaks.

Hacking is hacking, whether the hackers own the company they hack into or not, it's still very illegal to do what they did.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

Hope the FBI's networks are secure enough to withstand Anonymous' cracking attempts....

[Harden_Tar]

We need to co-opt them and then turn them loose on China. Give them the best hardware and bandwidth money can buy and see what havoc they can cause and what systems they can penetrate. It's the least we can do since the Chinese do it to us daily.

[KnowerseekerReturns]

I figure that the only reason we don't seem to have white-hat security professionals as good as these black hats is because our government and corporations aren't willing to pay enough to attract the security geniuses.

[rocketjl]

You have my vote to lock up these people and throw away the key. Tell them it is because we can. They have their dislikes and we have ours. It just so happens that we don't like hackers and people who teach people to hack.

[bradkt1]

Put all of these arrogant punks and vandals in prison for the maximum term.

[KevinSchmidt]

Punks? As in kids? I think the hacker ringleader, Rudeperp Murdoch is a very old man, and the rest of them are career white collar criminals in their 40s-60s. Although you're right about the arrogant and vandals part.