Here's Sabu on December 25 taking credit for the Stratfor hack:

We did the hack under #antisec which is an operation within anonymous.... we are decentralized

Here's what was taken from Stratfor and released:

860,000 usernames, emails, and md5-hashed passwords; data from 75,000 credit cards, including security codes used for no card present transactions; and over 2.5 million Stratfor emails, internal Stratfor documents from the company’s intranet, and support tickets from it.stratfor.com.

While Sabu had his associates and followers thinking he was on the run, he was actually encouraging others to commit the same crimes he always had, except this time under the direction of the FBI. [More...]

At his change of plea hearing (transcript here) Anonymous/LulzSec hacker Hector Monsegur, aka Sabu, was asked to explain in his own words what he did wrong. The Government said Sabu would read from a statement. I think Sabu's explanation of the fraud counts is interesting to anyone concerned about identity theft.

Credit Card Fraud:

With the use of my computer I obtained dozens of credit card numbers of other people from an online site which provided stolen credit card numbers. I also hacked into the computers of two companies. I used these credit card numbers without authorization to pay my own bills as well as gave them to others to make fraudulent purchases. More than $1,000 in charges resulted from the use of these stolen numbers over the course of a one-year period. I knew my conduct was illegal.

[More...]

Thanks to Reuters legal correspondent Basil Katz for publishing the plea agreement and transcript of guilty plea hearing for Anonymous/LulzSec hacker-turned-informant Hector Monsegur, aka Sabu.

Sabu's plea agreement is "global", meaning it is binding on all 94 U.S. Attorney's offices. No other federal district can charge him with other crimes (excluding criminal tax violations, as are typically excluded.)

Sabu won't be federally charged for any other past crimes he voluntarily disclosed, although the court can consider them as relevant conduct at sentencing. These include attempts to sell pounds of pot, hooking up buyers of marijuana and prescription drugs to potential sellers from 2009 to 2011, racking up $15,000 worth of unauthorized charges on his employer's credit card, purchase of stolen jewelry and electronics, and possession of a handgun. And any other uncharged hacking offenses committed between 1999 and 2010. [More...]

Barrett Brown says it looks like he will be indicted. Yesterday he posted this statement about the FBI searches of his apartment and his mother's house. At least he's lawyered up. (Added: During a video chat today he said the feds wanted him to do 9 years.)

In Sabu news, the transcript of LulzSec informant Hector Xavier Monsegur's guilty plea hearing has been unsealed. From news sources quoting it, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Pastore told the judge: [More...]

Anonymous is an idea, not a group. Those associated with Anonymous say they will continue despite today's arrests. They also point out that LulzSec disbanded last June. (Here's the pastebin announcement, assuming it's really by LulzSec, which it seems to be.)

As for Sabu, aka Hector Xavier Monsegur, it appears he began cooperating the night of his arrest, June 7, 2011. Fox got some firsthand information on his takedown. Now that the docket has been unsealed, I see this entry:

Minute Entry for proceedings held before Magistrate Judge James L. Cott: Initial Appearance as to Hector Xavier Monsegur held on 6/8/2011. Deft appears with Assistant Federal Defender atty Peggy Cross. AUSA James Pastore present for the gov't. Agreed conditions of release: $50,000 PRB. Other conditions: Deft to be supervised by the FBI with respect to travel and reporting and all other issues. Deft to be released on own signature. See Sealing Order dated 6/8/11. ( Preliminary Hearing set for 7/8/2011 at 10:00 AM before Judge Unassigned.) (My emphasis)

[More...]

Here's the U.S. Attorney's press release on the arrest of six alleged members of Anonymous and LulzSec today.

Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka Sabu, was cooperating and led to the others. He pleaded guilty in August. The charged offenses include hacks of Fox Broadcasting Company, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and the Public Broadcasting Service (“PBS”) .

One person from Chicago, Jeremy Hammond, a/k/a “Anarchaos, was charged with the Stratfor hack.

Barrett Brown says on Twitter that his apartment was raided by the FBI this morning and they took laptops but he wasn't arrested. [More...]

The U.S. filed its extradition request for Kim Dotcom and the other MegaUpload defendants on Friday in the North Shore District Court in Auckland. The deadline was March 5.

The court is not releasing the documents at this time. The hearing is August 20.

If you missed last week's TV3 News interview with Kim Dotcom in which he quite articulately explains why he's committed no crime (summary here), you can still view it online here.

The Attorney General for Pennyslvania filed a Bill of Particulars yesterday in the criminal case against Jerry Sandusky. It provides the ages of the ten alleged victims at the time of the alleged assaults (the youngest was 8) and the locations where they took place.

Eight of the ten alleged victims were abused on Penn State’s campus, including five in the Lasch Football Building.

More details here. You can read the actual document here.

Update (3/1): The written decision rejecting the Crown's bail appeal for Kim DotCom has been released. You can read it here. (Update: This video link seems to be working.)

MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom gave an in depth interview yesterday to TV3 News in New Zealand. I couldn't get the video to play, but the station posted the transcript.

What's remarkable about reading the transcript is that it feels like you are hearing him speak. That's how passionate Kim Dotcom is about his innocence. He explains MegaUpload and copyright laws a lot better than the Government does in its Indictment. And he answers each question directly -- there are no attempts to deflect the interviewer by answering the question he thinks should have been asked instead of the one actually put to him. He really seems to have nothing to hide. In a nutshell: [More...]

Update (3/1): The written decision rejecting the Crown's bail appeal for Kim DotCom has been released. You can read it here.

The Crown, representing the U.S., has lost its appeal to reverse MegaUpload co-founder Kim DotCom's release on bail. I just received confirmation from The High Court's media department via e-mail: "I am able to advise that Kim Dotcom's bail appeal has been dismissed." A copy of the decision should be available soon. When I receive it, I'll post it.

9:00 pm MT: First on Twitter, the New Zealand Business Review: Kim Dot Com Stays Free. NZBR said it was standing room only in the High Court. [More...]

Law enforcement officers swept through Europe and South America today, arresting 25 suspected Anonymous hackers in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain.

The arrests followed an ongoing investigation begun in mid-February, which comprised searches of 40 locations in 15 cities and included the seizure of 250 pieces of information technology equipment and mobile phones, Interpol said.

....Anonymous has no real membership structure. Hackers, activists, and supporters can claim allegiance to its freewheeling principles so it is not clear what impact the arrests will have.

Perhaps in response, Anonymous has taken down Interpol's website. It's still down. [More...]

It's a big day for Kim DotCom of MegaUpload. At 4:30 pm New Zealand time (1 hour from now) High Court Justice Tim Brewster will issue his decision on the Crown's appeal of Kim DotCom's release on bail. Hopefully, Kim DotCom won't be returning to jail.

A hearing has been going on all day in another division of the High Court on Kim DotCom and his wife Mona's request to unfreeze assets for living expenses. They say their living expenses are $220,000. a month. The Crown Prosecutor, Ann Toohey, who is representing the U.S., objected to the expenditures as excessive.

DotCom is requesting 28,000 a month for legal and living expenses. The amount of $200,000 is for rent at the mansion. Kim DotCom put $6.5 million into renovations at the property, which he will lose if he can't pay the rent.

Toohey also said she was informed yesterday by the FBI that U.S. prosecutors are investigating Mona DotCom and have made some sort of application: [More...]