The Metropolitan Police has warned Anonymous and Lulzsec hackers they are still on their trail – using Twitter, the hacktivist’s favoured mode of communication.
The Met (@metpoliceuk) tweeted a link to a “reminder” that hackers face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of computer misuse offences.
The statement said: “These offences cover the acts of unauthorised access to personal accounts, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and intrusive hacks where data is taken or systems changed.”
The Met’s statement came just as a briefing from America’s Department of Homeland Security branded Anonymous and Lulzsec “Script Kiddies”.
The briefing said that the groups continue to be successful using rudimentary methods to harass public and private organisations.
“So far, Anonymous has not demonsrated any capability to inflict damage to critical infrastructure,” it says.
“However, some members of Lulzsec have demonstrated moderately higher levels of skill and creativity.
It also said that Lulzsec’s release of law enforcement data put government personnel at risk of serious harm.
The Met this week charged 18-year-old Jake Davis with offences under the Computer Misuse Act, including a DDoS attack on the Serious and Organised Crime Agency’s (SOCA) website.
The police claim he is Lulzsec’s spokesman ‘Topiary’, the man believed to be behind the group’s prolific Twitter feed, which has been unusually quiet since Davis’ arrest.
Davis is currently on bail as is another suspected Lulzsec member also charged with the SOCA attack, Essex teenager Ryan Cleary, but this week’s Twitter message from the Met hint that authorities believe there could be more arrests to come.
Arrests of Lulzsec and Anonymous suspects have been made in the United States, Spain, Turkey, Britain and the Netherlands in a global hacking crackdown following a series of high profile and embarassing data breaches and DDoS attacks.
Two updates to Anthropic's AI chatbot Claude sees arrival of a new business-focused plan, as…
Most people in the United States view TikTok as a Chinese influence tool a poll…
UK regulator confirms it is investigating whether OnlyFans is doing enough to prevent children accessing…
Dismissed staff file complaint with a US labor board, and allege Google unlawfully terminated their…
Elon Musk dismisses two senior Tesla executives, plus the entire division that runs Tesla's Supercharger…
Eight newspaper publishers in the US allege Microsoft and OpenAI used their millions of their…
View Comments
"The Met (@metpoliceuk) tweeted a link to a “reminder” that hackers face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of computer misuse offences."
In theory, yes. But in reality they won't even get prosecuted, just like the News International criminals aren't getting prosecuted. Or am I missing something?