Jeremy Hammond, hacker for Anonymous, sentenced to 10 years

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: Washington Post

A Chicago computer hacker tied to the group known as Anonymous was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for cyberattacks on various government agencies and businesses, including a global intelligence company.

Jeremy Hammond, 28, was handed the maximum term for the December 2011 hacking of Strategic Forecasting, an attack his lawyers contend was driven by concern about the role of private firms in gathering intelligence domestically and abroad.

Prosecutors say the hack of Strategic Forecasting, or Stratfor, resulted in the theft of 60,000 credit card numbers and records for 860,000 clients, which were then uploaded online. Hammond admitted being behind it in May.

He also admitted to hacking several law enforcement agencies and organizations, including the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and releasing personal details of officers as part of an attack by the Anonymous-affiliated group LulzSec.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/jeremy-hammond-hacker-for-anonymous-sentenced-to-10-years/2013/11/15/1935198c-4e33-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html

---

At Friday’s hearing, Hammond said he had never heard of Stratfor until Monsegur brought it to his attention. He called the fact that Monsegur had been cooperating with the FBI during the hack a “great surprise.”

[Jesus Malverde]

1. Jeremy Hammond: FBI directed my attacks on foreign government sites

Anonymous hacktivist told court FBI informant and fellow hacker Sabu supplied him with list of countries vulnerable to cyber-attack

The Anonymous hacktivist sentenced on Friday to 10 years in federal prison for his role in releasing thousands of emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor has told a Manhattan court that he was directed by an FBI informant to break into the official websites of several governments around the world.

Jeremy Hammond, 28, told a federal court for the southern district of New York that a fellow hacker who went under the internet pseudonym “Sabu” had supplied him with lists of websites that were vulnerable to attack, including those of many foreign countries. The defendant mentioned specifically Brazil, Iran and Turkey before being stopped by judge Loretta Preska, who had ruled previously that the names of all the countries involved should be redacted to retain their secrecy.

Within a couple of hours of the hearing, the three countries had been identified publicly by Forbes, the Huffington Post and Twitter feeds serving more than a million followers. “I broke into numerous sites and handed over passwords and backdoors that enabled Sabu – and by extension his FBI handlers – to control these targets,” Hammond told the court.

The 28-year-old hacker has floated the theory in the past that he was used as part of an effective private army by the FBI to target vulnerable foreign government websites, using the informant Sabu – real name Hector Xavier Monsegur – as a go-between. Sabu, who was a leading figure in the Anonymous-affiliated hacking group LulzSec, was turned by the FBI into one of its primary informants on the hacker world after he was arrested in 2011, about six months before the Stratfor website was breached.

Referring to the hacking of foreign government websites, Hammond said that in one instance, he and Sabu provided details on how to crack into the websites of one particular unidentified country to other hackers who then went on to deface and destroy those websites. “I don’t know how other information I provided to [Sabu] may have been used, but I think the government’s collection and use of this data needs to be investigated,” he told the court

He added: “The government celebrates my conviction and imprisonment, hoping that it will close the door on the full story. I took responsibility for my actions, by pleading guilty, but when will the government be made to answer for its crimes?”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/15/jeremy-hammond-fbi-directed-attacks-foreign-government

[marble falls]

2. Maybe if they hadn't used stolen credit accounts to buy $700,000 worth of consumer goods as well?

"The hackers also made at least $700,000 in fraudulent purchases using Stratfor's clients' credit cards, according to an indictment filed last year by prosecutors. "

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/jeremy-hammond-anonymous-hacker-guilty-stratfor_n_3347215.html

I was with them right up to this.

[Thinkingabout]

3. Appears to have overlooked this part. Thugs

[Jesus Malverde]

5. Exposed previously unknown corporate spying on activists and organizers

The Stratfor hack exposed previously unknown corporate spying on activists and organizers, including PETA and the Yes Men, and was largely constructed by the FBI using an informant named Hector Monsegur, better known by his online alias Sabu. Co-defendants in the U.K. were previously sentenced to relatively lighter terms. Citing Hammond's record, Judge Preska said "there will not be any unwarranted sentencing disparity" between her ruling and the U.K. court's decision.

Hammond's supporters and attorneys had previously called on Judge Preska to recuse herself following the discovery that her husband was a victim of the hack she was charged with ruling on. That motion was denied. (Full disclosure: This reporter previously spoke at a rally calling on Judge Preska to recuse herself.)

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/cyber-activist-jeremy-hammond-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison-20131115

[marble falls]

8. So what was the theft of $700,000 about? What about the credit records of 60,000 people about?

I'm glad they exposed the company, but the theft was just plain wrong and begs the question, "was the hacking of information a cover for theft?"

I support anonymous and Wikileaks. I don't support malicious exposure of individual's credit information that exposes them to become victims of criminal fraud.

Also note that the Prosecutor cited Jeremy Hammond's "co-operation" in his sentencing request which the judge followed.

[Jesus Malverde]

7. You notice he wasn't charged with theft?

Prosecutors make up lots of allegations in indictments they have little chance of proving.

Peace

[Jesus Malverde]

4. JEREMY’ HAMMOND SENTENCING STATEMENT | 11/15/2013

Good morning. Thank you for this opportunity. My name is Jeremy Hammond and I’m here to be sentenced for hacking activities carried out during my involvement with Anonymous. I have been locked up at MCC for the past 20 months and have had a lot of time to think about how I would explain my actions.

The acts of civil disobedience and direct action that I am being sentenced for today are in line with the principles of community and equality that have guided my life. I hacked into dozens of high profile corporations and government institutions, understanding very clearly that what I was doing was against the law, and that my actions could land me back in federal prison. But I felt that I had an obligation to use my skills to expose and confront injustice—and to bring the truth to light.

Could I have achieved the same goals through legal means? I have tried everything from voting petitions to peaceful protest and have found that those in power do not want the truth to be exposed. When we speak truth to power we are ignored at best and brutally suppressed at worst. We are confronting a power structure that does not respect its own system of checks and balances, never mind the rights of it’s own citizens or the international community.

My introduction to politics was when George W. Bush stole the Presidential election in 2000, then took advantage of the waves of racism and patriotism after 9/11 to launch unprovoked imperialist wars against Iraq and Afghanistan. I took to the streets in protest naively believing our voices would be heard in Washington and we could stop the war. Instead, we were labeled as traitors, beaten, and arrested.

I have been arrested for numerous acts of civil disobedience on the streets of Chicago, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I used my computer skills to break the law in political protest. I was arrested by the FBI for hacking into the computer systems of a right-wing, pro-war group called Protest Warrior, an organization that sold racist t-shirts on their website and harassed anti-war groups. I was charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and the “intended loss” in my case was arbitrarily calculated by multiplying the 5000 credit cards in Protest Warrior’s database by $500, resulting in a total of $2.5 million.My sentencing guidelines were calculated on the basis of this “loss,” even though not a single credit card was used or distributed – by me or anyone else. I was sentenced to two years in prison.

While in prison I have seen for myself the ugly reality of how the criminal justice system destroys the lives of the millions of people held captive behind bars. The experience solidified my opposition to repressive forms of power and the importance of standing up for what you believe.

When I was released, I was eager to continue my involvement in struggles for social change. I didn’t want to go back to prison, so I focused on above-ground community organizing. But over time, I became frustrated with the limitations, of peaceful protest, seeing it as reformist and ineffective. The Obama administration continued the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, escalated the use of drones, and failed to close Guantanamo Bay.

Around this time, I was following the work of groups like Wikileaks and Anonymous. It was very inspiring to see the ideas of hactivism coming to fruition. I was particularly moved by the heroic actions of Chelsea Manning, who had exposed the atrocities committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. She took an enormous personal risk to leak this information – believing that the public had a right to know and hoping that her disclosures would be a positive step to end these abuses. It is heart-wrenching to hear about her cruel treatment in military lockup.

I thought long and hard about choosing this path again. I had to ask myself, if Chelsea Manning fell into the abysmal nightmare of prison fighting for the truth, could I in good conscience do any less, if I was able? I thought the best way to demonstrate solidarity was to continue the work of exposing and confronting corruption.

http://www.sparrowmedia.net/2013/11/jeremy-hammond-sentence/

[legcramp]

6. So he had 5000 stolen crdit cards in his data base

but that's ok because Bush stole an election?

Enjoy your time behind bars MORON.

[BlueJazz]

9. " not a single credit card was used or distributed – by me or anyone else."

I have not made up my mind yet.

[legcramp]

11. Well they do say that possession is 9/10ths of the law.

Eom

[Soylent Brice]

23. *cough*troll*cough*

[legcramp]

26. Here

[msongs]

10. if he was a wall street CEO he woulda walked or never even been investigated nt

[Arugula Latte]

14. I was going to say, and the corporate banking criminals who ruined our economy and

stole untold billions walk free ...

[George II]

21. Totally different story and issue - his greed got the best of him, he belongs in jail

[ReRe]

12. Should have gotten 5 years, at most...

... he was entrapped. Government should have eaten half the sentence. IMHO.

[starroute]

13. There's a pretty good Kevin Gosztola piece at Firedoglake

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/11/15/jeremy-hammond-the-need-to-promote-respect-for-the-rule-of-law/

The judge—whose husband’s email address was actually released in one of the leaked Stratfor files yet she refused to recuse herself from this case—would not adopt a view that distinguished between good hacking and bad hacking. She would not do this for the same reason that judges have been reluctant to distinguish between good leakers or whistleblowers and bad leakers. Differentiating between the two would have set a precedent that created space for dissent, including space for acts taken by those who do not believe the system of checks and balances and the rule of law in American society is functioning properly. . . .

Freedom of Information Act requests will not reveal the extent to which the United States has become a surveillance state. They will not show the extent to which the government contracts firms or businesses that profit off of selling amateurish or professional intelligence services. Government will keep such information concealed under a national security exemption, even if the information involves systematic violations of the privacy of citizens or implicates the civil liberties of individuals that should be protected.

Such “corruption” garners very little interest among members of Congress, who are supposedly expected to investigate the kind of questionable activities Hammond was interested in revealing. Judges are disinclined to sympathize with the concerns of defendants motivated to call attention to the inner workings of the national security state. They’ll even derisively address defendants, as Preska did to Hammond when she said he thought he was some kind of Robin Hood, who would “steal from the rich to give to the poor.”

What that means for citizens is that the only way they can be certain they are getting the truth anymore is if whistleblowers decide to come forward with information or hacktivists decide to extract information. (Note: Sometimes isolated acts of investigative journalism occur and they do provide some truth as well.)

[reACTIONary]

24. "good hacking and bad hacking" ? Is that like...

...the distinction between good breaking and entering and bad breaking and entering?

[Ash_F]

15. FYI it was another Bush judge, of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_A._Preska

Also wikipedia is hilarious.

"Loretta Kurwa Preska (born January 7, 1949 in Albany, New York) is Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and a former nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She is also a hatchet-woman for the New World Order, a sworn enemy of free humanity and all natural things on planet Earth."

Too bad this sentence is no laughing matter.

[warrant46]

19. also a hatchet-woman for the New World Order

Sleeps soundly every night on her heated water bed

[Jesus Malverde]

22. lulz...nt

[Ash_F]

16. Also the Judges' husband worked for a client of Stratfor

http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/27/the_other_bradley_manning_jeremy_hammond

Conflict of interest much? We need to get these leeches out of our government.

[go west young man]

17. His statement.

http://www.sparrowmedia.net/2013/11/jeremy-hammond-sentence/

This was entrapment for sure.

[grantcart]

20. Given the fact that he was just released from prison for a similar crime he would have a

very difficult time arguing entrapment (and probably why his attorney didn't try).

The hacks at issue in Hammond’s case began about a month after he completed his supervised release following a two-year prison term on an earlier federal hacking charge, prosecutors said.

Entrapment In criminal law, entrapment is when a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit an offense that the person would have otherwise unlikely committed

[reACTIONary]

25. +10 (nt)

[hue]

18. K&R for Jeremy!!