A hacker-turned-government-informant was sentenced to time served for his help in thwarting more than 300 cyberattacks on the government and large corporations while in prison.
The Los Angeles Times reports Hector Xavier Monsegur was sentenced and ordered to pay a $1,200 fine Tuesday after spending just seven months in jail. The U.S. attorney in Manhattan called him "an extremely valuable and productive cooperator."
The New York Times says Monsegur spent May to December of 2012 in jail, but was released on bail. Federal guidelines suggest he could have been sentenced 21 to 26 years in prison.
Monsegur, who goes by the online alias Sabu, was first arrested and pleaded guilty in 2011 for helping hack major companies including Visa, MasterCard and PayPal as part of LulzSec, a splinter group of the hacktivist organization Anonymous. (Via PCWorld)
"He actually would go in using his clout as a member of the hacking group Anonymous and several splinter groups and communicate in real time with the people in the dark corners of the Internet." (Via CBC)
Wired says Monsegur would then take that information and provide it to the FBI. In all, the publication reports Monsegur helped expose eight Anonymous hackers.
TheWashington Post reports Jeremy Hammond is one of those. Hammond was sentenced to ten years for allegedly hacking government agencies and businesses as well as uploading 60,000 credit card numbers online.
Anonymous voiced its support for Hammond on Twitter Tuesday.
The group had harsh words for Monsegur, then wrote "You can buy Jeremy Hammond (in prison bc of Sabu) a book from his Amazon wishlist #FreeJeremy #FreeHammond" (Via Twitter / @YourAnonNews )
Prosecutors say Monsegur's help prevented the online theft of millions of dollars from the federal government, the military, Congress, NASA, a television network and a video game manufacturer, among others.
