(Reuters) - The arrests of six suspected leaders of the loose-knit international hacking group Anonymous comes after a long string of cyber vandalism against major companies and government agencies around the world.
Dec 2010: Anonymous' early attacks took aim at the websites of Mastercard, Visa and eBay's PayPal in retaliation for the companies' refusal to accept donations for Wikileaks, whose founder was in legal hot water for publishing confidential diplomatic cables.
Early 2011: Anonymous, along with its affiliates such as Lulz Security or LulzSec, hacked the websites of the governments of Tunisia, Algeria and Zimbabwe. Tunisia was then part of the Arab Spring while Algeria has been largely untouched by the unrest. Zimbabwe has been governed by Robert Mugabe since independence in 1980. (Lulz is Internet slang for laughs)
February 2011: Anonymous hackers broke into the network of HBGary after an executive said he had learned the identities of the group's leaders.
May 2011: Lulz, angered by a PBS documentary about WikiLeaks, posted a fake news story on the PBS website claiming that dead rapper Tupac Shakur is alive and well. It also claimed credit for breaking into Fox.com and publishing data about contestants for a Fox show "X Factor." Fox is a unit of News Corp.
June 2011: Lulz hackers broke into Sony Corp's computer systems to demonstrate that the company had shoddy security. They also hacked into Nintendo but the incident does not appear to have serious consequences.
Lulz also breached one of the U.S. Senate's computer network but did not appear to get access to sensitive data. It also took down the public website of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency with what appeared to be a denial of service attack, where hackers inundate a website to crash it.
Lulz knocked offline a website run by the British police Serious Organised Crime Agency, which targets organized crime. Lulz also struck an Arizona police website to show opposition to a tough anti-immigration law.
June 21: British police arrest a 19-year-old man, Jake Davis, in eastern England. Suspects were also picked up in the United States, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands. Davis was known on Twitter as topiary, describing himself as a "simple prankster turned swank garden hedge."
June 22: Hackers briefly disabled three websites belonging to Brazil's government. The sites for Brazil's federal government, presidency, and tax collection agency were inaccessible to the public for about two and a half hours overnight but their operation was quickly restored.
June 25: Lulz Security announced it is disbanding, although the original group, Anonymous, will press on.
It was also in June that Hector Xavier Monsegur, the hacker known as Sabu, was arrested at his small Manhattan apartment. He secretly pleaded guilty to 12 charges in August, and began cooperating with authorities.
July 4: Anonymous said it broke into an Apple Inc server and published a small number of usernames and passwords for one of the company's websites.
July 11: Anonymous hackers said on Twitter that they broke into the computer systems of major government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton. The hackers said that they wiped out 4 gigabytes of source code and stole 90,000 email addresses.
December 2011: Antisec hackers, who are also tied to Anonymous, broke into Stratfor Global Intelligence Service, stealing data like client list details on 90,000 credit card accounts.
January 2012: Hackers broke into the personal email of an Irish police officer, and use information learned there to listen into a law enforcement conference call. They post it online.
March 2012: Police announce charges against six hackers associated with the Anonymous groups, including Monsegur.
(Reporting By Diane Bartz)
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.