Stratfor hacker Jeremy Hammond sentenced to ten years in jail
Internet activist Jeremy Hammond who pleaded guilty to hacking servers of the private intelligence company Statfor and leaking its information to anti-secrecy site, WikiLeaks, was sentenced to ten years in jail on Friday, November 15.
The release of internal emails belonging to Strategic Forecasting Inc. or Stratfor, has become one of the most successful operations ever conducted by the hacktivist group, Anonymous, which Hammond admitted to being part of. A trove of emails attributed to Stratfor executives suggested that the private company, which employs many former officials from the CIA and other government agencies, kept close ties with the security apparatus. In particular, the emails published by WikiLeaks suggested that Stratfor was hired by private companies and government agencies alike to monitor political protesters and activists, including members of Occupy Wall Street and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In addition to bringing attention to domestic civil liberties issues, the emails also suggested that numerous Pakistani officials knew the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden prior to the US raid on the Abbottabad complex, and that Russia was able to compromise the unmanned aerial vehicles Israel sold to Georgia prior to the 2008 war. After pleading guilty during the trial, Hammond released a statement admitting that he also worked with the activist group, Anonymous, to hack into other websites, including those of the military, private intelligence suppliers, law enforcement agencies, information security firms, and more. “I did this because I believe people have the right to know what government and corporations are doing behind closed doors. I did what I believe is right,” he wrote in his statement.
Wikileaks: Wikileaks releases all the Stratfor files following Hammond's sentencing [?]
Common Dreams: Jeremy Hammond: FBI Directed My Attacks on Foreign Government Sites
The Verge: LulzSec hacker sentenced to 10 years in jail for leaking Stratfor emails
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