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Man detained on alleged ACTA hacking protest charges

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 27.01.2012 10:58
A 22 year-old man from Wroclaw, south west Poland, has been detained by police in connection with the hacking of the Prime Minister’s Office web site at the weekend.
PAP/Maciej KulczynskiPAP/Maciej Kulczynski

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photo - PAP/Maciej Kulczynski

“At this stage I can only confirm that the man is suspected of computer crime" said police spokesman Pawel Petrykowski but would not confirm that the arrest is in connection with the Anonymous hacktivist protest against the ACTA agreement, which Poland signed yesterday in Tokyo.

The Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper is reporting that the man has been named as Lukasz S. (surname withheld) and is thought to be a student.

Hacker wars

The man was apparently unmasked by a group of self described elite hackers passing under the name of Happy Ninjas.

The group has declared itself in opposition to what they called the “e-terrorism” of the last few days, during which hackers disabled governmental web sites in protest against the international anti-piracy ACTA agreement.

Happy Ninjas also claim that Lukasz S. had been breaking into e-retail outlets and changing settings so money would be paid into his account and not that of the e-shops themselves.

Happy Ninjas published transcripts of online conversations held by the ‘Polish Underground’ hackers collective, whom they denounced as “posers.”

Lukasz S. is allegedly a member of the Polish Underground group, which claimed responsibility for bringing down the Prime Minister's official web site.

Journalists from the Gazeta Wyborcza daily managed to track down Lukasz S., prior to his arrest.

In an interview with the paper, he admitted responsibility for hacking governmental web sites.

He said that hacking was “a hobby like any other,” and stressed that no damage had been done to the portals themselves.

“Our action has not caused any damage,” he insisted.

“Data has not been harmed,” he said.

Lukasz S. revealed that he has already had problems with the law for similar offences, but that this had not put him off his hobby.

“I have the best lawyer,” he claimed. (pg/nh)

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