TMCnet News
Hackers intercept confidential FBI conference callSAN FRANCISCO, Feb 03, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Hacker group Anonymous on Friday released a recording of a confidential conference call between the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and British law enforcement officers on cybercrime investigations. According to the 17-minute conversation posted on YouTube, the U.S. and British law enforcement officers discussed ongoing investigations into some hackers being tracked and their plans for legal action. Some of the real names have been bleeped out while the online pseudonyms of suspects are kept in the recording. Anonymous also published an email from the FBI, entitled "Anon- Lulz International Coordination Call." The email was sent to over 40 law enforcement officers in the U.S., Britain, Ireland, Netherlands, France and Sweden, inviting them to discuss investigations related to Anonymous, Lulzsec, AntiSec and other hacker groups. The recording showed that officers from London, Los Angeles and Washington attended the conference call on Jan. 17. The FBI and Scotland Yard have confirmed that the confidential conference call was illegally intercepted, as was the email containing details on the conference call. "The information was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained. A criminal investigation is under way to identify and hold accountable those responsible," the FBI said in a statement to the U.S. media. According to a BBC report, London's Metropolitan Police's central e-crime unit said the matter was being investigated but no operational risks had been identified. After releasing the recording, Anonymous has been taunting the FBI about the infiltration on Twitter. "The FBI might be curious how we're able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now," it said in a tweet early Friday. Also on Friday, Anonymous hackers took over the website of Greece's Ministry of Justice, posting a two-minute video in English to protest the EU/IMF bailout plan associated with austerity policies for the country. The attack prompted the Greek ministry to take its website offline. Describing itself as an "internet gathering," Anonymous is usually seen as a loosely organized hacker group in media reports. It has targeted websites of several governments, law enforcement agencies, and companies in recent years. |