Wikileaks DDoS Attacker Arrested, Equipment Seized 429
kaptink writes "The self proclaimed hacker that waged a DDoS attack on Wikileaks has been arrested and has had all his equipment seized. What is interesting is that local police conducted the raid and not a federal authority such as the FBI. The Jester (th3j35t3r) who has a reputation for attacking websites he disagrees with is said to be trying to raise $10,000 in expected lawyers fees. If anyone is going to be alight in the whole Wikileaks debacle, its going to be the lawyers. Personally I think anyone who spells their nick with numbers in an effort to look 'leet' deserves to have their computer confiscated."
Summary Fail (Score:5, Informative)
Try as I might, I see ZERO MENTION of the jester being arrested in the linked article. Here's the real article, pulled from the original submission:
http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/12/1/wikileaks-hacker-raided-cops/ [thinq.co.uk]
Interestingly enough, thinq.co.uk seems to be one of only a few, if more than one, reporting on the subject. A few quick google searches turned up nothing regarding his arrest..
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Informative)
Not only that, but other sites reporting on the subject are already retracting:
https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/9916-Hacker-The-Jester-Reports-Raid-By-Law-Enforcement.html [infosecisland.com]
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Weird story...
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Informative)
further update from his twitter:
( http://twitter.com/th3j35t3r [twitter.com] )
# the real Jester thanks all with common sense and the ability to research, while at the same time never begging for money. (EVER). OUT. about 3 hours ago via web
# The raid story = fabricated by the imposter (@th3j3st3r - www.th3j35t3r.net) to facilitate him capitalizing on the name, or to draw me out. about 3 hours ago via web
# really wanted to TANGO DOWN - www.th3j35t3r.net IMPOSTER - today but I appear to have bigger stuff to deal with. Shit happens. about 3 hours ago via web
# requires no cash. I will not have blood of a money-grabbin opportunist (@th3j35tsr) on my hands. Consider urself dusted. (thankyou). about 3 hours ago via web
# PS FOR the record I have not been lifted, and do not require any finances or donations - dont be sucked in by @th3j3st3r imposter.OUT about 4 hours ago via web
# th3j35t3r For sake IMPOSTER (@th3j3st3r (www.th3j35t3r.net)) I plead you to STFU and vanish.'He knows not what he does.' Heed me now. about 4 hours ago via web
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I think the lack of official executive branch announcement of the arrest is further evidence of this.
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Why would the executive branch comment on the arrest of a bush-league hacker?
Re:Summary Fail (Score:4, Interesting)
Someone on here earlier was saying that the Jester doesn't have the smarts or the technology to pull off something like the DDoS thats been happening to Wikileaks - and if that's true I wouldn't be surprised if this is just some fabricated story to pump up Jester's "cred" as a "leet hacker".
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He is, however, dumb enough to use Twitter to brag about his sploits, which makes locating and arresting him about as hard for a cop as scratching his own nuts.
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, you try scratching your nuts when you have a donut in one hand and a coffee in the other... you get some strange looks if you start scratching against furniture.
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Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Funny)
Not if he was behind SEVEN PROXIES.
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Funny)
"He has to make it past a belly bloated by years of coffee and donuts."
Careful - these are IT types your talking to.
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5)
s/your/you\'re/
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Re:Summary Fail (Score:4, Funny)
[ilikejam@localhost ~]$ vi .emacs
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Yes. For instance, under California law:
Any person who willfully threatens to commit a crime which
will result in death or great bodily injury to another person, with
the specific intent that the statement, made verbally, in writing, or
by means of an electronic communication device, is to be taken as a
threat, even if there is no intent of actually carrying it out,
which, on its face and under the circumstances in which it is made,
is so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate, and specific as to
convey to the per
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Funny)
"Someone on here earlier was saying that the Jester doesn't have the smarts or the technology to pull off something like the DDoS "
and if someone says something on Slashdot, it must be true!
Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Funny)
I may not have the smarts to do that either but I posted a link to my own server on slashdot and it stopped working.
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Re:Summary Fail (Score:5, Insightful)
The nice thing about conspiracies is that they can be blamed for everything.
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The nice thing about conspiracies is that they can be blamed for everything.
For instance, it's pretty damn near self-evident that the conspiracy would post something just like that. Deflect attention from itself by drawing attention to itself, self-mockingly.
In other words, THAT'S JUST WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK!
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Then why stop him now?
Re:Summary Fail (Score:4, Informative)
Try as I might, I see ZERO MENTION of the jester being arrested in the linked article. Here's the real article, pulled from the original submission:
http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/12/1/wikileaks-hacker-raided-cops/ [thinq.co.uk]
Interestingly enough, thinq.co.uk seems to be one of only a few, if more than one, reporting on the subject. A few quick google searches turned up nothing regarding his arrest..
Reply posted on the link you provided above: "UPDATES: Reports of the raid and confiscation of equipment are most likely a hoax or an elaborate social engineering scheme to capitalize on current news events: https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/9916-Hacker-The-Jester-Reports-Raid-By-Law-Enforcement.html [infosecisland.com] "
Re:Sh (Score:3, Informative)
SLASHDOT shame on you... in your rush to try to "scoop" everyone else you posted what is more than likely a hoax storey.
Be careful everyone before you help to "donate" $10,000 to his attorney fees. This is more than likely a scam. There is no confirmation from ANY reputable site, news or otherwise, that police actually kicked his door in today and confiscated anything.
Of course Slashdot won't post this comment because ...
1) It's a little critical of them and...
2) It's from "anonymouse"
No surprises (Score:5, Interesting)
Now I just have to wonder if he'll receive a pardon of some kind.
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Now I just have to wonder if he'll receive a pardon of some kind.
Or a job.
Trying to raise money (Score:5, Insightful)
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why?
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Only someone dumb enough to give him money would ask a question like that.
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Now, it would be a shame if someone took some stolen credit cards and sent him a lot of money... Right? Truly bad indeed.
Helping Law Enforcement (Score:5, Insightful)
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So he committed a crime and tweeted about it. Stupid, but helpful for law enforcement. Durrrr....
The Internet has made stupid drunken or braggy confessions to one's pals even easier for cops to overhear. No longer does a cop or an informant have to be in physical proximity to the moron! Oddly exactly what it was made for: Easier communication!
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script? nope, he he made a gui in vb4 with a button on it that launches a script made by someone else. Like all the other 1337 h4x0rs.
Honestly, who didn't see that coming? (Score:2)
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I honestly don't care one way or the other regarding the Wikileaks mess, but common sense tells you that if you do something illegal (like DDoS'ing) and then brag about it that you will likely get caught.
Maybe he thought the CIA would thank him and give him a job. ;-)
th3j35t3r - Lame. (Score:5, Funny)
A nick name like "th3j35t3r" is so unbelievably lame.
It clearly should be "7h3j3573r".
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He wanted 7h3j3573r, but someone else had already claimed it, so he had to substitute ts for his 7s.
(Not realizing 73hj3573r was available.)
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He says it as "th3j35t3r" because he is a Lisp programmer...
Re:th3j35t3r - Lame. (Score:5, Informative)
Point (Score:2, Insightful)
"Personally I think anyone who spells their nick with numbers in an effort to look 'leet' deserves to have their computer confiscated"
This.
I'm surprised. (Score:4, Interesting)
I honestly thought it was government(s) behind the DDoS.
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Re:I'm surprised. (Score:4, Insightful)
I honestly thought it was government(s) behind the DDoS.
Well, he was motivated by "patriotism" fueled by the FUD spread by government(s)... is it them doing it if they influence people without giving direct instructions? Philosoraptor knows...
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Personally I didn't think it was a DDOS, but a slashdotting from diplomats trying to find out what everybody else really thinks about them.
Re:I'm surprised. (Score:5, Funny)
Happy World AIDS Day to you, too!
lol.
On a related note (Score:5, Informative)
The Wikileaks twitter account [twitter.com] is reporting/complaining that Amazon booted them from using their servers. Others [guardian.co.uk] are saying [readwriteweb.com] it was due to pressure from the US.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Amazon does a fair bit of business in the United States, what with it being an American corporation and all. I'm surprised Wikileaks lasted a day before getting the boot. Kudos to Amazon for knowing where their bread is buttered.
Re:On a related note (Score:5, Insightful)
Kudos to Amazon for knowing where their bread is buttered.
NO.. no kudos for them - now if they where presented with a court order to shut it down then by all means.
but this is a violation of due process if not, and as far as i'm concerned places Amazon out of what could be reasonably considered a common carrier on their EC2 platform..
which means they should be liable as assisting any illegal activity that happens on their EC2 platform.
Re:On a related note (Score:4, Insightful)
No doubt this somehow fell under ToS violations. Not so much a perversion of justice.
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well like app ToS's they all have the line "this can be changed at any time without notice and your bound to it" with lines like that i really don't know why they bother with the rest of the document.. just put
ToS: You will do what we say, when we say, how we say, and pay us for it.
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Amazon license agreement says they can boot you if they determine that hosting you is a security concern. I am not saying there aren't more nefarious reasons, but its quite possible they were just getting sick of getting DDOSed. (Section #3.4.1)
http://aws.amazon.com/agreement/#3
Re:On a related note (Score:5, Interesting)
"Senator Lieberman issued a statement saying that Amazon.com has informed his staff that the company has ceased hosting Wikileaks."
First off...go figure Joe Lieberman has anything to do with this. Second, why must Amazon.com report to Joe Lieberman and his staff for any reason? I'm not the type to boycott services for politcal views, but I'm willing to boycott Amazon for associating with such a toolbag.
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He's an attention whore, they get all the babes.
really?? (Score:2)
Re:really?? (Score:4, Informative)
He broke the law... (Score:2)
...to stop others from breaking the law.
He is a man of genius.
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First, we set fire to all the lawyers (Score:4, Funny)
If anyone is going to be alight in the whole Wikileaks debacle, its going to be the lawyers.
That's sort of an incendiary comment. You're playing with fire, here; you don't want to flame lawyers, they might get hot under the collar.
steveha
Re: (Score:2)
Well, its a good start.
Leetness and the individual... (Score:3)
Alphanumeric's are practically forced down our throat at every turn, whether it's in new capture images, password requirements on a banking site or when registering with any of the other myriad companies you might be required to have a login for these days. Is it so strange for that to translate into a name that transcends the King's English?
Fast response time... (Score:2)
It only took two days since the attack occurred for the perpetrator to be tracked down and arrested? I can't say I've ever heard of such a fast response time to a computer crime. I'm quite surprised.
Is this typical these days?
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It only took two days since the attack occurred for the perpetrator to be tracked down and arrested? I can't say I've ever heard of such a fast response time to a computer crime. I'm quite surprised.
Is this typical these days?
I don't know. Let's see if Wikileaks has reports on the typical computer crime response.
Re:Fast response time... (Score:5, Funny)
It only took two days since the attack occurred for the perpetrator to be tracked down and arrested? I can't say I've ever heard of such a fast response time to a computer crime. I'm quite surprised.
Is this typical these days?
Nah, not hardly. Let me demonstrate.
I'll just fire up my handy-dandy scrypto-rama botnet infestor... there... and point it at Amazon... like that. And - hang on, there's someone at the doo%$^&%&*+++NO CARRIER
Real vigilantes do not (Score:5, Insightful)
2. Post about it on twitter
3. Make videos of the attack and blog
4. Try to recruit sidekicks
5. Brag about it on IRC and the interwebs
You do any or all of the above, and you are not a vigilante or a cracker. You are just another idiot you got his/her paws on a computer.
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not idiot, mentally challenged. like anyone posting or written about on /.
oh, wait a minute....
S(r3w u! (Score:5, Funny)
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1 \/\/4$ 4B4|\|D0|\|3D 4$ 4 (|-|1LD 4|\|D r41$3D b'/ |-|4>0r3r$, j00Z 1|\|$3|\|$171\/3 (L0D!
Please, please, please mod this up.
Re:S(r3w u! (Score:5, Funny)
You left off the required #!/usr/bin/perl at the start.
Like I said (Score:2)
Numbers in your handle? (Score:2, Insightful)
I think someone who uses the letter "k" instead of the letter "c" in their nickname to look kool deserves to have their komputer konfiscated. I'm looking at you kaptink.
Re:Numbers in your handle? (Score:4, Informative)
Its not a substitute. But then you dont know where my nick is from so I wont call you a twat. Just off-topic :)
This just in (Score:2)
The initial list of equipment seized is as follows:
1 Kaypro 386
1 box of 1.4MB floppy disks
1 VBS Scripting for Dummies
1 box of Star Wars Kleenex
1 bag of Peanut M&Ms
1 high-back executive desk chair with two missing casters
1 copy of Penthouse Forum from April 1986
1 Wal*Mart computer desk
4 Star Wars Attack of the Clones action figures
1 spring-loaded Star Wars Light Saber (Mace Windu model)
Please post more items when they become known/available through the press.
Thank you.
Insurance file? (Score:3)
He's even gone so far as to develop his own pretty DoS tool [infosecisland.com] with green fonts on black background with twitter integration that exploits uber-secret knowledge, like opening many connections that slowly feed http headers to apache, thereby using up all available children.
What will be interesting, though, is his own encrypted insurance file [wordpress.com], that supposedly contains various information about the people behind wikileaks, although - like the wikileaks insurance file - you can't really prove it contains anything but random garbage. I rather choose to believe that the guy is a bored, stupid teen who read too many articles about the fantasy anarcho-hacking world of the 90s...
Bad Summary (Score:3)
Some of us made up our usernames when we were children, think of the children!
Actual setup of Wikileaks? (Score:3)
I may be a bit late to this discussion, but I was wondering if anyone could fill me in on the technical side of Wikileaks, instead of the politics.
- Why is it called Wikileaks when it's not a wiki? .gov to compromise wikileaks, and ferret out the informers/insert wrong data/track down Julian?
- How do they ensure confidentiality of leaker's identities?
- I know they have a group of volunteers working around the world, how do they communicate securely?
- How hard would it be for the US/Other
Re:Computer expert? (Score:5, Funny)
Watch it with the comments about having numbers in your nick, dude. We're both on very thin ice here.
Re:Computer expert? (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, I’m not doing it to appear leet.
I’m actually doing it in a small sort of protest to the fact that it’s virtually impossible to get a descriptive username (on AIM, originally) without having a number tacked on the end. So I made the username as non-descriptive as possible and made the number extra big.
But I somewhat doubt anyone cares.
Re:Computer expert? (Score:5, Funny)
Let me allay any doubts.
Besides all you need to get a name without numbers is be good at mispelling things.
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It's not the format, it's the effort.
My nick was auto-generated by a failover in an account-request form (mumble) years ago, so there's no effort involved here. Not that any is needed.
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That happens if it was modded "under-rated"
If someone mods it "Troll", and 4 people mod it "under-rated", you could end up with "Score: 5, Troll")
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If you look at his mod though, it's marked funny and has +1 karma (for 3 points with my preferences) and it does not show "Funny"
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Thats even better than "-1, Insightful"
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
That's weird... my last two comments have been modded but I only see the score (Score: 3) instead of the score+mod (Score: 3, Funny).
When someone uses the "underrated" mod, it simply pushes it up a notch without changing the previous tag. On the other hand, you can be modded "overrated" which will simply push your point down without touching the tag attached.
:)
There have been some rather funny cases where a mod has been +5 Troll and similar mods. Well, at least they give me a giggle
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That's fine and all, but it should show (Score:3 Funny) on his because there IS a funny mod. It's not simply an Underrated mod.
Why not +5 troll ? (Score:3)
Once in a while there are posts that are so exceptional good textbook cases of trolldom, that you feel they trump everything any other troll could ever write. For these cases there should be a +1 troll. Maybe not as part of the regular rating, but as an exception mod one could give once a year.
Also, for these rare posts -that should be made visible for everyone- I'd like to see:
+1 perfect strawman
+1 this is what's wrong with humanity
+1 clinically insane
+1 so dumb, I almost rated it funny
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If they found out who he was in the first place, apparently he wasn't very good either.
But... didn't you see all of those numbers in his name!? Didn't you see all of that reckless gloating!? Clearly he is a master of computers (though he's not nearly as good as Komen Bryce)!
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m0nk33dud3 concurs.
Re:4n0nym0u5 (Score:4, Funny)
Plus it makes me sound cool, of course!
Re:4n0nym0u5 (Score:4, Funny)
I never had that problem. It's pronounced phonetically "John" btw ;)
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Re:4n0nym0u5 (Score:5, Funny)