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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

[ADD DIGITAL LIBERTY TOPIC]

Two teenagers have been arrested this week in connection to high-profile online crimes. First up is a hacker alleged to have accessed CIA Director John Brennan's AOL email account [theregister.co.uk]:

A 16-year-old Brit has been arrested for allegedly hacking the email account of CIA director John Brennan. The teenager is accused of hacking Brennan's personal email account and releasing some 40 sensitive documents that were contained within [theregister.co.uk] including a 47-page security clearance application for the director's current role. CNN [cnn.com] reports the boy was arrested on counts of suspicion of conspiracy to commit unauthorised access to access computer material and was released on bail.

The hacker used public information on Brennan to con AOL into resetting the director's email account.

Vincent Lauton, the operator of an anonymous XMPP server that was allegedly used to make multiple school bomb threats in recent weeks [theregister.co.uk], was arrested by French police:

French police have arrested the operator of a log-free Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) service allegedly used by a hacking gang responsible for making dozens of fake bomb threats to schools around the world. Les Gendarmes say they've cuffed Vincent Lauton [bitrated.com], 18, [the alleged operator of] darkness.su [darkness.su] which positions itself firmly a service for those seeking high anonymity. The outfit promises customers it does not store user logs "in any manner" other than for debugging, and does not require customer information to setup accounts. The site sports an advertisement for carding website ValidShop.

Le Monde [lemonde.fr] reports Lauton is being investigated for possible links to the group calling itself Ev4cuati0nSquad, which over the last month has phoned in dozens of fake bomb threats to schools [theregister.co.uk] in countries including the UK, the US, and Australia causing closures and widespread panic. It is alleged Ev4cuati0nSquad placed its bomb threat voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) calls using the Darkness.su service.

Lauton was reportedly taken via armed convoy to a Paris police station, and is being held in extended custody under France's emergency powers. Le Monde reports Lauton refused to hand over decryption keys for his computer resulting in his indictment for the non-cooperation.

Previously: CIA Director's AOL Account Allegedly Pwned [soylentnews.org]
WikiLeaks Publishes CIA Chief's Personal Info [soylentnews.org]
CIA Chief 'Outraged' by Personal Email Hack [soylentnews.org]
Probe Launched After Mischiefmaker Invades James Clapper's Verizon Broadband Account [soylentnews.org]

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