I’ve never viewed myself as a conspiracy nut (then again, how many conspiracy nuts have that level of self-awareness?), but I may have just joined the ranks.
Jeremy Hammond, a member of Anonymous/LulzSec, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in prison for hacking Stratfor and other entities. Part of his defense was that former member turned FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsigur (“Sabu”) had recruited, encouraged, or otherwise entrapped him into hacking Stratfor and other sites – including those of foreign governments. As far as I know, the government has not yet responded to those allegations.
If those allegations are true – or even regardless of whether they are true – did the FBI – through Sabu or other agents – actually recruit or encourage people in AnonIRC to hack our own government agencies? Based on the actions of undercover infiltrators during the 60s and 70s, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that they had.
And if that happened (and yes, I realize there are a lot of “ifs”), then does that explain the FBI memo that suddenly leaked on Thursday to Reuters? Is the FBI trying to spin public opinion against Anonymous by blaming them for hacks on U.S. agencies that they might have recruited them to attack via snitches or operatives?
Or do I just need to rush over to Aisle 4 and get myself a tin foil hat?