Anonymous Releases Audio From Hacked FBI Call
The online collective listened in on a conversation about themselves between American and British authorities.
| Posted Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, at 4:43 PM ET
Photo by Jean-Philippe Ksiek/AFP/Getty Images
The hacking collective Anonymous wasn't just the topic of conversation during a recent conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard -- it was eavesdropping on the call, too. And now it's posted audio from the 16-minute confidential conversation online to prove it.
CBS News reports that the call -- a recording of which was released online Friday -- was followed by cyberattacks on several law enforcement agencies in the U.S. In Utah, hackers accessed sensitive data, including that of citizens reporting crimes; and in Boston, hackers posted a message on the police website reading: "Anonymous hacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS."
The FBI is opening up a criminal investigation as a response to the eavesdropped call, saying that access to the Jan. 17 phone conversation was obtained illegally when a law enforcement official overseas forwarded the email with access information to his private account, which had been compromised, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The call itself (listen here, if you're so inclined) is not exactly a focused discussion of cybersecurity threats. The casual, occasionally jokey discussion includes mention of a McDonalds inside the Pentagon and is more or less a run through of various international cybersecurity investigations. Hackers Kayla and tflow (well-known hacker monikers associated with Anonymous) are mentioned by name, but Anonymous has censored the recording so that their real names are not audible.
PC Magazine has a good rundown of the content of the call for those not familiar with the cases discussed, putting much of the names and investigations in context.
