‘Sabu’ Tells Charlie Rose How He Went From Anonymous Hactivist to FBI Informant

Former “Anonymous” hactivist turned FBI informant Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka “Sabu,” has turned to the news media to defend himself against accusations of “snitching” on his colleagues.

In a revealing interview that aired Tuesday with Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning,” Monsegur denied directly giving up other hackers’ identities but admitted that his undercover work with the agency after his arrest in 2011 was completely monitored and led to multiple arrests. The Guardian reported details on the Charlie Rose interview with Monsegur that day:

“It wasn’t a situation where I identified anybody. I didn’t point my fingers at anybody. My cooperation entailed logging and providing intelligence. It didn’t mean ‘Can you please tell me the identity of all your mates,’” he said.

Monsegur was sentenced in May to time served – equivalent to seven months – despite the fact that federal prosecutors estimated he had notched up more than $50m in damages in his Anonymous hacks. The judge thanked him for his “extraordinary cooperation”.

That cooperation involved helping the FBI nail eight prominent Anonymous and LulzSec hackers including Jeremy Hammond, the then No 1 most-wanted cybercriminal in the world on the FBI’s wish list, who is now serving a 10-year sentence for his role in breaching the private intelligence firm Stratfor.

Sealed court documents obtained by Motherboard have revealed that Monsegur was directing Hammond and other hackers to attack Brazilian government and corporate websites at a time when he was secretly working for the FBI, raising questions about the extent of his activities globally on behalf of the bureau.

In Monsegur’s talk with Charlie Rose (posted below) he described growing up in the projects, his involvement in particular cyberattacks carried out with Anonymous and how he cooperated with the FBI, which, according to the agency, prevented 300 hacking attempts. 

—Posted by Donald Kaufman.

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