News that the hacker Sabu worked with the FBI after his arrest casts new light on interviews he gave during that time – including one with New Scientist

Were we taken in by Sabu? (Image: Polaris/Eyevine)

IN THE early hours of 30 June last year, my time spent monitoring the Anonymous chat room finally paid off: “Sabu” would grant me an interview.

I had become a familiar name to some of the key figures in the hacktivist group, as well as their more aggressive sub sect, LulzSec. Most of them would not do interviews so it came as a big surprise that night when LulzSec’s de facto leader agreed to tell me his story in private. Looking back, in the light of last week’s news of his arrest, I realise perhaps all was not quite as it seemed.

The following night, over the course of about 3 hours, he told me all about himself (New Scientist, 9 July 2011, p 26). He came across as every bit the principled warrior, thrust into the international spotlight by both passion for the cause and his own skill. Other insider hackers confirmed his participation in the interview and he demonstrated that he was the one in charge of the notorious @AnonymouSabu Twitter feed. Both friends and foes of his were able to verify details he was sharing.


You can never be absolutely sure who is typing on the other side of the screen, but this was about as close as I could hope for.

However, last week we found out that while it probably was 28-year-old Hector Xavier Monsegur that I was speaking to that night, we were not alone. Unbeknownst to anyone else, Monsegur had been arrested on 7 June, and since then he had been cooperating with the FBI to gather intelligence on Anonymous activities from the inside.

Though his every online move was being monitored by the FBI – which says it does not “go into the details” of its investigative methods – he was to appear to conduct business as usual. It seems likely that I was speaking to a mole on a very tight leash.

Looking back through my logs now, there may have been signs. On multiple occasions, Monsegur warned me that I should be prepared to be under more scrutiny myself as a result of our conversations. He mentioned that I “may have federal agents contact [me] for info” and directed me to listen to a song by rapper Immortal Technique called The Point of No Return, which talks about a world-weary man who refuses to go down without a fight. Putting himself at risk of reprisals for cooperating with authorities – done to avoid a prison sentence that would leave his young family alone – may give this message new meaning, but so much remains a mystery.

News of Monsegur’s arrest sent his fellow “Anons” into a panic. Jennifer Emick, an ex-Anon and partner at Backtrace Security, has been an outspoken critic of the group since she left. Former hackers are falling silent, or even setting their computers alight to destroy evidence, while others are on a “snitch hunt”, she says. And she warns that all the moles have not yet been revealed. “I think it will be the end of Antisec,” she adds, referring to the movement Monsegur launched.

With the news of Sabu’s arrest, hackers are falling silent or even setting their computers alight

But it is not the end of hacktivism generally, says Marcus Rogers of Purdue University in Indiana, who studies hacker psychology. “If one of them gets arrested, they think ‘they were stupid’ or ‘they were unlucky’.” So while they may be retreating into the shadows for now, it won’t be for long.

For budding hacktivists – and journalists – there may be no better cautionary tale than that of Sabu.