Fbi, Hackers | featured news

The underground world of computer hackers has been so thoroughly infiltrated in the US by the FBI and secret service that it is now riddled with paranoia and mistrust, with an estimated one in four hackers secretly informing on their peers, a Guardian investigation has established.

The FBI on Tuesday disputed a computer hacker group's claim that it stole personal identification data on millions of Apple device owners from an FBI agent's laptop.

For computer users, a few mouse clicks could mean the difference between staying online and losing Internet connections this summer. Unknown to most of them, their problem began when international hackers ran an online advertising scam to take control of infected computers around the world. In a highly unusual response, the FBI set up a safety net months ago using government computers to prevent Internet disruptions for those infected I users. But that system is to be shut down.

One of the world's most-wanted cyber hackers secretly became an FBI informant last year and helped bring in five other suspected leaders of the loose-knit international Anonymous group who were charged with computer crimes on Tuesday.

Perpetual gadflies Anonymous released a recording between agents at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Scotland Yard on Friday in which the two agencies discuss anti-hacking operations.

The FBI today raided several homes in New York and California as part of an ongoing investigation into recent distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks allegedly launched by members of the Anonymous hacking group.

Man, one day you have the whole world's ear to talk about slack network security, and the next you're in the joint. Andrew Auernheimer, Goatse Security's hacker-in-chief and a key player in the unearthing of a major security flaw exposing iPads surfing AT&T's airwaves, is today facing felony charges for possession of a variety of potent drugs.