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FBI Arrests 16 in Raids Targeting Online Hackers

HeadlineJul 20, 2011

The FBI has arrested 16 people in a series of nationwide raids targeting two of the world’s most well-known hacking organizations. Fourteen of the suspects were arrested for their alleged links to a December attack on the online payment site, PayPal. The loosely affiliated hacker activist group, Anonymous, took credit for the breach in response to PayPal’s suspension of accounts that donated money to the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks. An additional suspect was arrested for an Anonymous-linked breach of the FBI-affiliated website, InfraGard. The final suspect was arrested for allegedly lifting files from AT&T’s computer system and providing them to LulzSec, a separate hacking group with ties to Anonymous. The suspects were charged with conspiring to intentionally damage protected computers, which is punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison. The arrests came as LulzSec reportedly breached the computer systems of News International, The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times, all Murdoch-owned publications.

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