LulzSec Hackers Nabbed, Thanks to Own Leader

Hector Xavier Monsegur turned witness after the FBI got him
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2012 9:59 AM CST
LulzSec Hackers Nabbed, Thanks to Own Leader
Turned in by their own leader...   (?dusk-photography)

In a twist that sounds custom-made for the movies, agents in the US and UK arrested three LulzSec hackers this morning—thanks to information dished out by their very own leader. Fox News reports that Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka Sabu, turned FBI witness in June after the bureau tracked him to a NYC public housing project. "They caught him and he was secretly arrested and now works for the FBI," says a source, and that fact will apparently be backed up today, when court documents related to his Aug. 15 guilty plea are released.

The evidence Monsegur provided allowed agents to arrest the hackers and charge two more with conspiracy. Those charged—a Chicagoan, two men from Ireland, and two Brits—are apparently members of the group's upper echelons. American Jeremy Hammond, aka Anarchaos, is thought to be the central figure behind the December hack on Stratfor. Sources say he's actually a member of Anonymous, while the others are believed to belong to LulzSec. "This is devastating to the organization,” says an FBI official. “We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.” (More Hector Xavier Monsegur stories.)

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