Hackers Intercept FBI Calls as U.K.

by deipokfo0 on 2012-02-04 17:28:50

The parent company of Steam did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It said that it called on citizens to take a series of similar actions as part of law enforcement around the world. The group is a loose association of hackers and activists without a formal structure or membership. Many calls were joking, not related to work-related conversations. The calls mainly included discussions between FBI agents in the US and their counterparts at Scotland Yard in the UK about developments in investigations. It appeared that the British police did not take the suspect, who used the alias TehWongZ, too seriously, referring to him as a "fan" and "pain in the neck." A spokesperson for the London Metropolitan Police said that the institution was aware of the intercepted calls, "and no operational risk has been identified." The spokesperson said that the FBI was investigating the matter. A 16-minute call was posted on the Internet last Friday. The Anonymous hacker collective claimed responsibility for the incident, but the FBI did not name the group and said that a criminal investigation was ongoing. "The information was obtained illegally and is only for law enforcement use," the FBI said. "A criminal investigation is underway to identify and hold the responsible parties accountable." A Twitter feed allegedly from TehWongZ said that he suspected his hard drive was in the hands of the FBI, but, "however, I have never been arrested." The violation of law enforcement is an embarrassment in how to stop cybercrime without borders wrestling. A Twitter account, claiming to be associated with Anonymous, suggested that hackers had been monitoring FBI communications for some time. British officials reported violations affecting Steam, a US-based gaming site, and also provided information about the teenage suspect in the UK. In November, Steam informed its customers that its site had been defaced and accounts might have been compromised. An FBI agent on the conference call told his counterparts that the investigation was being handled by an agency in Baltimore. The FBI in Washington said that criminals hacked into a web crime conference call between its agents and overseas law enforcement officials. The FBI said that the security of its email or other computer systems was not breached. Instead, it seemed that an overseas law enforcement official invited to the FBI call forwarded information to his private email account, which was then hacked. British officials on the conference call discussed efforts to assist the US investigation into hackers, some of whom also faced charges in the UK, where they described impressive investigative work in recovering data from the suspect's hard drive.