A conference call between Scotland Yard and the FBI has been intercepted and published by a member of the computer hacking group Anonymous.
By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent
The conversation concerned a young member of another hacking collective who was cooperating with the police in Britain but also involved officers joking about cheese and Sheffield.
The hacker apparently managed to access the call after getting into an FBI email which gave details of the call. The email was also posted online.
Writing on the Twitter account, AnonymousIRC, one hacker said: “The FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now.”
The email referred to an investigation on both sides of the Atlantic into a number of hacking groups. It read: “A conference call is planned for next Tuesday (January 17, 2012) to discuss the on-going investigations related to Anonymous, Lulzsec, Antisec, and other associated splinter groups.”
The recording refers to the on-going court case against Ryan Cleary, arrested last June for his alleged role in the group LulzSec, and reveals legally sensitive information.
It also refers to a 15-year-old listed as a member of CSLSec – meaning “can’t stop laughing security”– a copy-cat group of hackers with just three members.
British police officers explain that the young man was arrested before Christmas for an incident involving his school and that he claimed to have taken part in a hacking incident called “Operation Mayhem.”
“Basically he’s doing all this for attention, he’s a bit of an idiot,” one officer says. They add that he has written a confession through his school that runs to two sides of A4 and one officer says he writes about “how he got involved, whet he’s done, almost clearing the slate now he’s come to the notice of the police.”
“A smack from mum and dad is behind it all,” the officer adds, saying he is “just another juvenile, another wannabe character.”
One anonymous member tweeted: “Man you’re f*****g dumb. It’s a conversation discussing anonymous/lulzsec and your wanna-be ass. your UK agent calls you an idiot.”
The young man, who is not being named by the Daily Telegraph for legal reasons, has sent out a number of tweets responding to the posting saying: “lol [laughs out loud] I’m UK not USA, no FBI can touch me. Idiot…why wud FBI talk about me? I’m not even US & haven’t been arrested. I’m still here ain’t I? lol…I haven’t heard it yet…& I haven’t got a UK agent lol.”
At the beginning of the conversation, the British officers discuss cheese and the merits of Sheffield.
One officer appears to refer to the city as a “khazi” slang for toilet – and tells an American colleague: “You’ve missed nothing, it’s not exactly a jewel in England’s crown.”
They also refer to a colleague as an “old school detective but mad as a box of frogs” and seem to think the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham is actually in Sheffield.
The FBI confirmed hackers had intercepted a confidential phone call, and said it was hunting those responsible.
An FBI spokesman said: “The information was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained. A criminal investigation is under way to identify and hold accountable those responsible.”
Scotland Yard said: “We are aware of the video, which relates to an FBI conference call involving a PCeU [Police Central e-crime Unit] representative.
“The matter is being investigated by the FBI. At this stage no operational risks to the MPS have been identified; however, we continue to carry out a full assessment.”
Anonymous is a loosely-organised group of hackers which has claimed responsibility for attacks against corporate and government websites all over the world.
www.telegraph.co.uk, 03 Feb 2012