This is the picture that led the FBI to a catch prolific hacker allegedly responsible for releasing the personal information of scores of police officers throughout the United States.
Higinio O. Ochoa III has been charged with illegally hacking into at least four U.S. law enforcement websites - feats he allegedly boasted about across social networking sites.
And it was this image - snapped in Australia - of his scantily-clad girlfriend holding a message taunting U.S. authorities that caught the 30-year-old computer programmer from Galveston, Texas.
The picture shows a woman from the neck down with a sign attached to her stomach, reading: 'PwNd by w0rmer & CabinCr3w <3 u B****'s!'
The FBI said it confirmed the identity of Ochoa, who calls himself 'w0rmer' online and is a member of 'CabinCr3w', an offshoot of hacking group Anonymous.
In February, Ochoa's alleged Twitter account, @AnonW0rmer, linked to a website where the data taken from law enforcement websites was displayed, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
At the bottom of the website, there was the picture of the woman wearing the sign. Data taken from that picture showed it was taken by an iPhone, according to the FBI.
GPS co-ordinates embedded in the photo - as are found in all pictures taken by a smartphone - showed authorities the exact street and house in Wantirna South, Melbourne where it was taken.
Different tweets from @Anonw0rmer pointed to other sites referring to 'w0rmer', including one which had Ochoa's name with it and more pictures of his girlfriend.
Authorities then found Ochoa's Facebook page, on which he named Kylie Gardner from Australia as his girlfriend. The FBI was then satisfied she was the woman in the photo taken in South Wantirna.
Even though the breasts photo does not show the woman's face, the FBI is convinced it is the same woman. They add it is definitive proof that Ochoa is w0rmer.
Gardner has not been accused of any criminal activity. It is believed she is now in the United States with Ochoa, who will appear in court this week, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
After tracking him down and putting him under surveillance, authorities stormed Ochoa's house on March 20 and arrested him.
In a post allegedly written by Ochoa on Pastebin, he said 'around 8 agents from the FBI stormed my apartment'. He was taken to an FBI office in Houston where he paid a $50,000 bail.
Ochoa appeared in court on April 10 before a magistrate, where the photograph evidence above was revealed in the FBI's affidavit.
It comes a month after former Lulzsec leader and Anonymous member Sabu was revealed as an FBI informant. But in the Pastebin post, Ochoa claimed he was not guilty of the same betrayal.
He wrote: 'I did tell FBI that I would participate in the capture of my fellow crew mates, a play which undoubtfully both satisfied and confused the FBI.
'Those however who know me best would vouch for me undoutfully that doing so would put this movement at risk.
'ALL information provided to the FBI merely made MY case weaker and caused internal confusion showing the inherent weakness in the system.'
Ochoa allegedly hacked the County of Houston's website in Alabama and 'created fake events on their online, posted images representing Anonymous and CabinCr3w, deleted all the administrator accounts except the one created by the attacker'.
CabinCr3w was also responsible for leaking email address and confidential information from Goldman Sachs executives in September 2011, Gizmodo reported.
In February, the group infiltrated the Los Angeles County Police Canine Association database, and leaked names, addresses and phone numbers of more than 100 police officers.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2129257/Higinio-O-Ochoa-III-FBI-led-Anonymous-hacker-girlfriend-posts-picture-breasts-online.html#ixzz1rvVYWcQw
No comments:
Post a Comment