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Anonymous says it hacked NATO, blasts FBI arrests

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After the arrests of at least 21 alleged hackers this week, members of the Anonymous hacker group said Thursday they stole a gigabyte of information belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In tweets, the Anonymous members said they had ‘breached’ NATO and that they have ‘lots of restricted material.’ The members posted links to PDF files that they said contain some of the stolen information.

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The group did not say why it targeted NATO but criticized the recent FBI arrests of alleged Anonymous members.

In a news release, signed by Anonymous and another hacker group LulzSec, the alleged hackers said they were ‘not scared any more’ and that the arrests were ‘meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea.’

The alleged hacking of NATO came two days after hackers in the U.S., U.K. and Holland were arrested. At least 14 of those were alleged to be members of Anonymous. NATO has not issued a news release or tweeted on the purported attack.

The groups also sent several tweets directed at the FBI.

‘So, we are working (and) the FBI are working. Let’s see who is more efficient,’ said @AnonymousIRC.

Meanwhile, LulzSec, which had disbanded earlier this month, appears to have regrouped. In the joint news release with Anonymous, the group said, ‘Arresting people won’t stop us, FBI. We will only cease fire when you all wear shoes on your heads. That’s the only way this is ending.’

An FBI official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the arrests said that although the Internet is a medium for free speech, there are activities that cross the line.

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‘There’s a big difference between a lawful protest and an unlawful riot,’ the official said. ‘When consumers and U.S. citizens start to fear the things that are taking place and start to lose confidence in the systems that were designed to protect them, it requires the appropriate response from the government.’

RELATED:

Alleged Anonymous members arrested

LulzSec returns, hacks Sun tabloid with Anonymous

Anonymous-related probe leads FBI to search three New York homes [Updated]

-- Salvador Rodriguez

twitter.com/sal19

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