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Hector Monsegur

Hector Xavier Monsegur (born 1983),[1] known also by the online pseudonym Sabu (pronounced Sə'buː, Sæ'buː),[2] is an American computer hacker and co-founder of the hacking group LulzSec.[3] Monsegur became an informant for the FBI, working with the agency for over ten months to aid them in identifying the other hackers from LulzSec and related groups while facing a sentence of 124 years in prison.[4][5] LulzSec intervened in the affairs of organizations such as News Corporation, Stratfor, UK and American law enforcement bodies and Irish political party Fine Gael.[6]

Hector Xavier Monsegur
Born1983 (age 40–41)
Other namesSabu
OccupationCybersecurity
Known forFounder of LulzSec

Sabu featured prominently in the group's published IRC chats,[7][8] and claimed to support the "Free Topiary" campaign. The Economist referred to Sabu as one of LulzSec's six core members.[9]

Early life, family and formal education edit

Hector Monsegur was born in New York to a 16-year-old father who raised him with his 40-year-old grandmother. Following the arrest of his father and his aunt for selling heroin, Monsegur moved to the Riis Houses (also known as the projects) in New York City with his grandmother.[10][11]

At a young age, Monsegur became interested in computers.

While attending Washington Irving High School, Monsegur was reprimanded by a security guard for bringing a screwdriver to school to help fix their computer system. Feeling insulted, he sent several complaints to the school administration. His complaints were deemed "threatening," and he was expelled. After this incident, he discontinued his formal education.[1][10][12]

Hacking career edit

An early experience with hacking was at age 14 when a Puerto Rican person was accidentally killed by the Marine Corps when they started bombing outside the test range on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. In response, Monsegur defaced various websites with messages protesting the US government's treatment of Puerto Ricans. On one site he included the line "Hello, I am Sabu, no one special for now."[10]

In 2010, following the death of his grandmother, he became the foster parent to his two female cousins whom he was unable to support financially, so he began hacking. Committing mostly credit card fraud, he targeted large corporate bank accounts. Although he was at first only interested in hacking for profit, over time he became interested in hacktivism, and this renewed interest coincided with the rise of the political hacker group Anonymous, which he joined under the moniker "Sabu". Although Anonymous does not have any formal leadership structure, the direction of the collective tended to be steered by a small number of members with a high amount of technical skill and domineering personalities. Sabu quickly established himself as one of these members. He became both a well-known individual within the community and a name often associated with Anonymous by the media.[10][12]

Sabu became the leader of a new hacking group formed from six Anonymous members. This new group was named Lulz Security (often abbreviated as LulzSec). LulzSec performed some hacks with political motives, but most of the hacks done by LulzSec were primarily motivated by a style of humor that they described as "the lulz". LulzSec was only active during a period that they referred to as the "50 days of lulz". In this time, their targets included News Corporation, Sony, and the CIA's official website.[13][14]

Sabu was identified by rival hacker group Backtrace Security as "Hector Montsegur" [sic] on March 11, 2011, in "Namshub," a PDF publication (named after the Sumerian word for "incantation").[15][16] Backtrace Security was a group of ex-Anonymous members who had grown critical of vigilante hacktivism. One member of the group explained their motives by stating, "One cannot fight for justice and democracy by using unjust, anti-democratic tactics."[17][18] Backtrace Security had found his identity through an IRC chatlog in which Sabu accidentally posted a link to his personal website.[12]

Author and anthropologist Gabriella Coleman met Monsegur during the Occupy Wall Street protest in October 2011. Describing him, she wrote "[He was a] wiry, yet, muscular, Latino man... many locals knew Sabu and treated him with deference-out of respect or fear, I can't say which."[12]

Arrest and guilty plea edit

Federal agents arrested Monsegur on June 7, 2011. The following day, Monsegur agreed to become an informant for the FBI and to continue his "Sabu" persona.[19] "Since literally the day he was arrested, the defendant has been cooperating with the government proactively," sometimes staying up all night engaging in conversations with co-conspirators to help the government build cases against them, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Pastore said at a secret bail hearing on August 5, 2011.[19] A few days after that bail hearing, Monsegur entered a guilty plea to 12 criminal charges, including multiple counts of conspiracy to engage in computer hacking, computer hacking in furtherance of fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faced up to 124 years in prison.[19]

Activity as an informant for the FBI edit

As an informant, Monsegur provided the FBI with details enabling the arrest of five other hackers associated with the groups Anonymous, LulzSec and AntiSec.[20][21] The FBI provided its own servers for the hacking to take place.[20] Information Monsegur provided also resulted in the arrest of two UK hackers: James Jeffery and Ryan Cleary.[22] The FBI attempted to use Monsegur to entrap Nadim Kobeissi, author of the secure communication software Cryptocat, but without success.[23]

Monsegur maintained his pretense until March 6, 2012, even tweeting his "opposition" to the federal government until the very last minute.[20] On March 6, 2012, the FBI announced the arrests of five male suspects: two from Britain, two from Ireland and one from the U.S. Anonymous reacted to Sabu's unmasking and betrayal of LulzSec on Twitter, "#Anonymous is a hydra, cut off one head and we grow two back".[24]

A court filing made by prosecutors in late May 2014 revealed Monsegur had prevented 300 cyber attacks in the three years since 2011, including planned attacks on NASA, the U.S. military and media companies.[25]

Monsegur served 7 months in prison after his arrest but had been free since then while awaiting sentencing. At his sentencing on May 27, 2014, he was given "time served" for co-operating with the FBI and set free under one year of probation.[26]

Post-prison career edit

After his release from prison, Monsegur worked as a white hat hacker doing pentesting.[27]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Kleinfield, N. R.; Sengupta, Somini (March 8, 2012). "Hacker, Informant and Party Boy of the Projects". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Biddle, Sam (March 6, 2012). "LulzSec Leader Betrays All of Anonymous". Gizmodo.
  3. ^ Olson, Parmy (2012). We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency. Little, Brown. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-316-21354-7.
  4. ^ "Why do US judges give such long prison sentences?". TheGuardian.com. March 7, 2012.
  5. ^ "'Lulzsec hackers' arrested in international swoop". BBC News. March 6, 2012.
  6. ^ Arthur, Charles; Sabbagh, Dan; Laville, Sandra (March 7, 2012). "LulzSec leader Sabu was working for us, says FBI". The Guardian.
  7. ^ Arthur, Charles; Gallagher, Ryan (June 24, 2011). "LulzSec IRC leak: the full record". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Cook, John; Chen, Adrian (March 18, 2011). . Gawker.com. Archived from the original on August 14, 2011.
  9. ^ "Cybercrime: Black hats, grey hairs". The Economist. August 3, 2011.
  10. ^ a b c d Fishman, Steve (June 11, 2018). "Hello, I Am Sabu ..." New York. p. 3. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  11. ^ Sengupta, Somini (March 7, 2012). "Arrests Sow Mistrust Inside a Clan of Hackers". The New York Times.
  12. ^ a b c d Coleman, E. Gabriella (2015). Hacker, hoaxer, whistleblower, spy: the many faces of Anonymous. Politics (First published in paperback ed.). London, New York: Verso. ISBN 978-1-78168-983-7.
  13. ^ Weisenthal, Joe. "Notorious Hacker Group LulzSec Just Announced That It's Finished". Business Insider. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  14. ^ "LulzSec hackers claim CIA website shutdown". BBC.com. June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  15. ^ Roberts, Paul (March 7, 2012). "Chats, Car Crushes and Cut 'N Paste Sowed Seeds Of LulzSec's Demise". Threatpost.com. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  16. ^ "Splinter Group Says Document Outs Anonymous Members". threatpost.com. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  17. ^ Greenberg, Andy. "Ex-Anonymous Hackers Plan To Out Group's Members". Forbes. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  18. ^ "Backtrace Security". Federal Bureau of Investigation. October 3, 2011 – via archive.org.
  19. ^ a b c Bray, Chad (March 9, 2012). "FBI's 'Sabu' Hacker Was a Model Informant". The Wall Street Journal.
  20. ^ a b c Ball, James (March 6, 2012). "LulzSec court papers reveal extensive FBI co-operation with hackers". The Guardian.
  21. ^ Bonderud, Douglas (March 15, 2012). . Infoboom. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012.
  22. ^ Thomson, Iain (August 23, 2012). "LulzSec sneak Sabu buys six more months of freedom". The Register.
  23. ^ Sengupta, Somini (March 12, 2012). "A Hacker Charms and Disappoints". The New York Times.
  24. ^ Covert, Adrian (March 6, 2012). "Anonymous Reacts to Sabu's Betrayal of LulzSec". Gizmodo.
  25. ^ "LulzSec hacker helped FBI stop over 300 cyber attacks". Big News Network. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  26. ^ Neumeister, Larry (May 27, 2014). . Yahoo News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 27, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
  27. ^ Greenberg, Andy. "Anonymous' Most Notorious Hacker Is Back, and He's Gone Legit". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 20, 2022.

hector, monsegur, hector, xavier, monsegur, born, 1983, known, also, online, pseudonym, sabu, pronounced, buː, buː, american, computer, hacker, founder, hacking, group, lulzsec, monsegur, became, informant, working, with, agency, over, months, them, identifyin. Hector Xavier Monsegur born 1983 1 known also by the online pseudonym Sabu pronounced Se buː Sae buː 2 is an American computer hacker and co founder of the hacking group LulzSec 3 Monsegur became an informant for the FBI working with the agency for over ten months to aid them in identifying the other hackers from LulzSec and related groups while facing a sentence of 124 years in prison 4 5 LulzSec intervened in the affairs of organizations such as News Corporation Stratfor UK and American law enforcement bodies and Irish political party Fine Gael 6 Hector Xavier MonsegurBorn1983 age 40 41 Other namesSabuOccupationCybersecurityKnown forFounder of LulzSecSabu featured prominently in the group s published IRC chats 7 8 and claimed to support the Free Topiary campaign The Economist referred to Sabu as one of LulzSec s six core members 9 Contents 1 Early life family and formal education 2 Hacking career 3 Arrest and guilty plea 4 Activity as an informant for the FBI 5 Post prison career 6 ReferencesEarly life family and formal education editHector Monsegur was born in New York to a 16 year old father who raised him with his 40 year old grandmother Following the arrest of his father and his aunt for selling heroin Monsegur moved to the Riis Houses also known as the projects in New York City with his grandmother 10 11 At a young age Monsegur became interested in computers While attending Washington Irving High School Monsegur was reprimanded by a security guard for bringing a screwdriver to school to help fix their computer system Feeling insulted he sent several complaints to the school administration His complaints were deemed threatening and he was expelled After this incident he discontinued his formal education 1 10 12 Hacking career editAn early experience with hacking was at age 14 when a Puerto Rican person was accidentally killed by the Marine Corps when they started bombing outside the test range on the island of Vieques Puerto Rico In response Monsegur defaced various websites with messages protesting the US government s treatment of Puerto Ricans On one site he included the line Hello I am Sabu no one special for now 10 In 2010 following the death of his grandmother he became the foster parent to his two female cousins whom he was unable to support financially so he began hacking Committing mostly credit card fraud he targeted large corporate bank accounts Although he was at first only interested in hacking for profit over time he became interested in hacktivism and this renewed interest coincided with the rise of the political hacker group Anonymous which he joined under the moniker Sabu Although Anonymous does not have any formal leadership structure the direction of the collective tended to be steered by a small number of members with a high amount of technical skill and domineering personalities Sabu quickly established himself as one of these members He became both a well known individual within the community and a name often associated with Anonymous by the media 10 12 Sabu became the leader of a new hacking group formed from six Anonymous members This new group was named Lulz Security often abbreviated as LulzSec LulzSec performed some hacks with political motives but most of the hacks done by LulzSec were primarily motivated by a style of humor that they described as the lulz LulzSec was only active during a period that they referred to as the 50 days of lulz In this time their targets included News Corporation Sony and the CIA s official website 13 14 Sabu was identified by rival hacker group Backtrace Security as Hector Montsegur sic on March 11 2011 in Namshub a PDF publication named after the Sumerian word for incantation 15 16 Backtrace Security was a group of ex Anonymous members who had grown critical of vigilante hacktivism One member of the group explained their motives by stating One cannot fight for justice and democracy by using unjust anti democratic tactics 17 18 Backtrace Security had found his identity through an IRC chatlog in which Sabu accidentally posted a link to his personal website 12 Author and anthropologist Gabriella Coleman met Monsegur during the Occupy Wall Street protest in October 2011 Describing him she wrote He was a wiry yet muscular Latino man many locals knew Sabu and treated him with deference out of respect or fear I can t say which 12 Arrest and guilty plea editFederal agents arrested Monsegur on June 7 2011 The following day Monsegur agreed to become an informant for the FBI and to continue his Sabu persona 19 Since literally the day he was arrested the defendant has been cooperating with the government proactively sometimes staying up all night engaging in conversations with co conspirators to help the government build cases against them Assistant U S Attorney James Pastore said at a secret bail hearing on August 5 2011 19 A few days after that bail hearing Monsegur entered a guilty plea to 12 criminal charges including multiple counts of conspiracy to engage in computer hacking computer hacking in furtherance of fraud conspiracy to commit access device fraud conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft He faced up to 124 years in prison 19 Activity as an informant for the FBI editAs an informant Monsegur provided the FBI with details enabling the arrest of five other hackers associated with the groups Anonymous LulzSec and AntiSec 20 21 The FBI provided its own servers for the hacking to take place 20 Information Monsegur provided also resulted in the arrest of two UK hackers James Jeffery and Ryan Cleary 22 The FBI attempted to use Monsegur to entrap Nadim Kobeissi author of the secure communication software Cryptocat but without success 23 Monsegur maintained his pretense until March 6 2012 even tweeting his opposition to the federal government until the very last minute 20 On March 6 2012 the FBI announced the arrests of five male suspects two from Britain two from Ireland and one from the U S Anonymous reacted to Sabu s unmasking and betrayal of LulzSec on Twitter Anonymous is a hydra cut off one head and we grow two back 24 A court filing made by prosecutors in late May 2014 revealed Monsegur had prevented 300 cyber attacks in the three years since 2011 including planned attacks on NASA the U S military and media companies 25 Monsegur served 7 months in prison after his arrest but had been free since then while awaiting sentencing At his sentencing on May 27 2014 he was given time served for co operating with the FBI and set free under one year of probation 26 Post prison career editAfter his release from prison Monsegur worked as a white hat hacker doing pentesting 27 References edit a b Kleinfield N R Sengupta Somini March 8 2012 Hacker Informant and Party Boy of the Projects The New York Times Biddle Sam March 6 2012 LulzSec Leader Betrays All of Anonymous Gizmodo Olson Parmy 2012 We Are Anonymous Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec Anonymous and the Global Cyber Insurgency Little Brown p 248 ISBN 978 0 316 21354 7 Why do US judges give such long prison sentences TheGuardian com March 7 2012 Lulzsec hackers arrested in international swoop BBC News March 6 2012 Arthur Charles Sabbagh Dan Laville Sandra March 7 2012 LulzSec leader Sabu was working for us says FBI The Guardian Arthur Charles Gallagher Ryan June 24 2011 LulzSec IRC leak the full record The Guardian Cook John Chen Adrian March 18 2011 Inside Anonymous Secret War Room Gawker com Archived from the original on August 14 2011 Cybercrime Black hats grey hairs The Economist August 3 2011 a b c d Fishman Steve June 11 2018 Hello I Am Sabu New York p 3 Retrieved April 10 2013 Sengupta Somini March 7 2012 Arrests Sow Mistrust Inside a Clan of Hackers The New York Times a b c d Coleman E Gabriella 2015 Hacker hoaxer whistleblower spy the many faces of Anonymous Politics First published in paperback ed London New York Verso ISBN 978 1 78168 983 7 Weisenthal Joe Notorious Hacker Group LulzSec Just Announced That It s Finished Business Insider Retrieved June 19 2023 LulzSec hackers claim CIA website shutdown BBC com June 16 2011 Retrieved June 19 2023 Roberts Paul March 7 2012 Chats Car Crushes and Cut N Paste Sowed Seeds Of LulzSec s Demise Threatpost com Retrieved January 9 2014 Splinter Group Says Document Outs Anonymous Members threatpost com Retrieved December 19 2022 Greenberg Andy Ex Anonymous Hackers Plan To Out Group s Members Forbes Retrieved June 19 2023 Backtrace Security Federal Bureau of Investigation October 3 2011 via archive org a b c Bray Chad March 9 2012 FBI s Sabu Hacker Was a Model Informant The Wall Street Journal a b c Ball James March 6 2012 LulzSec court papers reveal extensive FBI co operation with hackers The Guardian Bonderud Douglas March 15 2012 Former Lulzsec Headman Turns Informant To Help Bust Bad Guys Infoboom Archived from the original on March 17 2012 Thomson Iain August 23 2012 LulzSec sneak Sabu buys six more months of freedom The Register Sengupta Somini March 12 2012 A Hacker Charms and Disappoints The New York Times Covert Adrian March 6 2012 Anonymous Reacts to Sabu s Betrayal of LulzSec Gizmodo LulzSec hacker helped FBI stop over 300 cyber attacks Big News Network Retrieved May 26 2014 Neumeister Larry May 27 2014 Hacker who helped feds gets no more time in prison Yahoo News Associated Press Archived from the original on May 27 2014 Retrieved May 27 2014 Greenberg Andy Anonymous Most Notorious Hacker Is Back and He s Gone Legit Wired ISSN 1059 1028 Retrieved March 20 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hector Monsegur amp oldid 1217185457, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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