Was Aussie LulzSec hacker setup?

A hacker known as "Ryan" claims he setup Matthew Flannery after he badmouthed him online. Source: Supplied

HACKTIVISTS claim that Matthew Flannery, the self-proclaimed "leader" of hacking group "LulzSec", is not responsible for the attacks on an Australian government website with which he has been charged.

The 24-year-old IT security worker was arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police on Tuesday for gaining unauthorised access to and causing data impairment to a government agency website.

But minutes after the arrest became public, Twitter was flooded with claims the AFP had the wrong man.

Now news.com.au has learned that a hacker going by the name of ‘Ryan’ is claiming he deliberately set Flannery up to punish him for being a troll.

Ryan has claimed on file-sharing website pastebin that he is in fact responsible for the attacks.

"I just emailed AFP person and told him I did it," he wrote. "because I f***ing did it.

"I wanted to get aush0k arrested but now I kind of like him... just for the sake of trolling cops."

Ryan alleges he implicated Flannery, because he "badmouthed" him online, "so I decided f*** this kid lets get him locked up".

The hacker claims that he was responsible for defacing MIT's website, as well as for hacking an Australian government website.

Another source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says he has known Flannery for more than 10 years and that he is well known as a troll who made enemies online.

"Matthew always was a troll," the source said. "He had a very hard life... he was in the process of turning his life around.

"The crimes he has been accused of go back about six months.

“As for being the leader of LulzSec, that's a good laugh.”

The AFP refused to comment on the matter.

View the original article here

Was Aussie LulzSec hacker setup?

A hacker known as "Ryan" claims he setup Matthew Flannery after he badmouthed him online. Source: Supplied

HACKTIVISTS claim that Matthew Flannery, the self-proclaimed "leader" of hacking group "LulzSec", is not responsible for the attacks on an Australian government website with which he has been charged.

The 24-year-old IT security worker was arrested and charged by the Australian Federal Police on Tuesday for gaining unauthorised access to and causing data impairment to a government agency website.

But minutes after the arrest became public, Twitter was flooded with claims the AFP had the wrong man.

Now news.com.au has learned that a hacker going by the name of ‘Ryan’ is claiming he deliberately set Flannery up to punish him for being a troll.

Ryan has claimed on file-sharing website pastebin that he is in fact responsible for the attacks.

"I just emailed AFP person and told him I did it," he wrote. "because I f***ing did it.

"I wanted to get aush0k arrested but now I kind of like him... just for the sake of trolling cops."

Ryan alleges he implicated Flannery, because he "badmouthed" him online, "so I decided f*** this kid lets get him locked up".

The hacker claims that he was responsible for defacing MIT's website, as well as for hacking an Australian government website.

Another source, speaking on condition of anonymity, says he has known Flannery for more than 10 years and that he is well known as a troll who made enemies online.

"Matthew always was a troll," the source said. "He had a very hard life... he was in the process of turning his life around.

"The crimes he has been accused of go back about six months.

“As for being the leader of LulzSec, that's a good laugh.”

The AFP refused to comment on the matter.

View the original article here

LulzSec hacker pleads guilty to attacks

UK hacker Ryan Ackroyd has admitted to cyberattacks on Sony, the NHS, News Int, Nintendo and the US' PBS website, above. Picture: AP Source: AP

A BRITISH computer hacker affiliated to the group Lulz Security pleaded guilty to cyberattacks on institutions including Sony, Britain's National Health Service and Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Ryan Ackroyd admitted one count of carrying out an unauthorised act to impair the operation of a computer.

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old accessed websites belonging to Sony, 20th Century Fox, the NHS, Nintendo, the Arizona State Police and News International between February and September 2011.

He will be sentenced May 14 at Southwark Crown Court in London. Other charges against him are being dropped.

Three other British hackers - 18-year-old Mustafa Al-Bassam, 20-year-old Jake Davis and Ryan Cleary, 21 - had previously pleaded guilty to launching distributed denial of service attacks on organizations including the CIA and Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Denial of service attacks work by overwhelming sites with traffic.

Prosecutors say Cleary's targets also included US Air Force computers at the Pentagon.

LulzSec, whose name draws on Internet-speak for LOL "laugh out loud," shot to prominence in mid-2011 with an eye-catching attack on US television network PBS, whose website it defaced with a bogus story claiming that the late rapper Tupac Shakur had been discovered alive in New Zealand.

An offshoot of the loose-knit movement known as Anonymous, LulzSec and its reputed leader, known as Sabu, had some of the highest profiles in the movement.

But last year US officials unmasked Sabu as FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur and officials on both sides of the Atlantic swooped in on his alleged collaborators, making roughly half a dozen arrests.

View the original article here

LulzSec hacker pleads guilty to attacks

UK hacker Ryan Ackroyd has admitted to cyberattacks on Sony, the NHS, News Int, Nintendo and the US' PBS website, above. Picture: AP Source: AP

A BRITISH computer hacker affiliated to the group Lulz Security pleaded guilty to cyberattacks on institutions including Sony, Britain's National Health Service and Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Ryan Ackroyd admitted one count of carrying out an unauthorised act to impair the operation of a computer.

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old accessed websites belonging to Sony, 20th Century Fox, the NHS, Nintendo, the Arizona State Police and News International between February and September 2011.

He will be sentenced May 14 at Southwark Crown Court in London. Other charges against him are being dropped.

Three other British hackers - 18-year-old Mustafa Al-Bassam, 20-year-old Jake Davis and Ryan Cleary, 21 - had previously pleaded guilty to launching distributed denial of service attacks on organizations including the CIA and Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Denial of service attacks work by overwhelming sites with traffic.

Prosecutors say Cleary's targets also included US Air Force computers at the Pentagon.

LulzSec, whose name draws on Internet-speak for LOL "laugh out loud," shot to prominence in mid-2011 with an eye-catching attack on US television network PBS, whose website it defaced with a bogus story claiming that the late rapper Tupac Shakur had been discovered alive in New Zealand.

An offshoot of the loose-knit movement known as Anonymous, LulzSec and its reputed leader, known as Sabu, had some of the highest profiles in the movement.

But last year US officials unmasked Sabu as FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur and officials on both sides of the Atlantic swooped in on his alleged collaborators, making roughly half a dozen arrests.

View the original article here

LulzSec hacker pleads guilty to attacks

UK hacker Ryan Ackroyd has admitted to cyberattacks on Sony, the NHS, News Int, Nintendo and the US' PBS website, above. Picture: AP Source: AP

A BRITISH computer hacker affiliated to the group Lulz Security pleaded guilty to cyberattacks on institutions including Sony, Britain's National Health Service and Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Ryan Ackroyd admitted one count of carrying out an unauthorised act to impair the operation of a computer.

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old accessed websites belonging to Sony, 20th Century Fox, the NHS, Nintendo, the Arizona State Police and News International between February and September 2011.

He will be sentenced May 14 at Southwark Crown Court in London. Other charges against him are being dropped.

Three other British hackers - 18-year-old Mustafa Al-Bassam, 20-year-old Jake Davis and Ryan Cleary, 21 - had previously pleaded guilty to launching distributed denial of service attacks on organizations including the CIA and Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Denial of service attacks work by overwhelming sites with traffic.

Prosecutors say Cleary's targets also included US Air Force computers at the Pentagon.

LulzSec, whose name draws on Internet-speak for LOL "laugh out loud," shot to prominence in mid-2011 with an eye-catching attack on US television network PBS, whose website it defaced with a bogus story claiming that the late rapper Tupac Shakur had been discovered alive in New Zealand.

An offshoot of the loose-knit movement known as Anonymous, LulzSec and its reputed leader, known as Sabu, had some of the highest profiles in the movement.

But last year US officials unmasked Sabu as FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur and officials on both sides of the Atlantic swooped in on his alleged collaborators, making roughly half a dozen arrests.

View the original article here

LulzSec hacker pleads guilty to attacks

UK hacker Ryan Ackroyd has admitted to cyberattacks on Sony, the NHS, News Int, Nintendo and the US' PBS website, above. Picture: AP Source: AP

A BRITISH computer hacker affiliated to the group Lulz Security pleaded guilty to cyberattacks on institutions including Sony, Britain's National Health Service and Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Ryan Ackroyd admitted one count of carrying out an unauthorised act to impair the operation of a computer.

Prosecutors say the 26-year-old accessed websites belonging to Sony, 20th Century Fox, the NHS, Nintendo, the Arizona State Police and News International between February and September 2011.

He will be sentenced May 14 at Southwark Crown Court in London. Other charges against him are being dropped.

Three other British hackers - 18-year-old Mustafa Al-Bassam, 20-year-old Jake Davis and Ryan Cleary, 21 - had previously pleaded guilty to launching distributed denial of service attacks on organizations including the CIA and Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency. Denial of service attacks work by overwhelming sites with traffic.

Prosecutors say Cleary's targets also included US Air Force computers at the Pentagon.

LulzSec, whose name draws on Internet-speak for LOL "laugh out loud," shot to prominence in mid-2011 with an eye-catching attack on US television network PBS, whose website it defaced with a bogus story claiming that the late rapper Tupac Shakur had been discovered alive in New Zealand.

An offshoot of the loose-knit movement known as Anonymous, LulzSec and its reputed leader, known as Sabu, had some of the highest profiles in the movement.

But last year US officials unmasked Sabu as FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur and officials on both sides of the Atlantic swooped in on his alleged collaborators, making roughly half a dozen arrests.

View the original article here