The Daily Dot Reveals Extent of FBI Involvement in Stratfor Hack

AUSTIN, Texas, June 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Daily Dot, in collaboration with Vice's Motherboard, published the first in a series of groundbreaking investigative features based on exclusive documents obtained from the prosecution of Jeremy Hammond, revealing the involvement of an FBI informant in the hacking of Strategic Forecasting, Inc., better known as Stratfor.

The documents—thousands of unreleased chat logs, surveillance photos, and government documents—trace in extraordinary detail the rise and fall of Hammond, a hacker and "flawed revolutionary" sentenced to serve 10 years in federal prison for his role in the Stratfor hack.

The Daily Dot's first report reveals how a notorious hacker and FBI informant helped stage the hacking of Stratfor, one of the most prominent cyberattacks of the early 21st century, and confirms for the first time the role a mysterious hacker known only as Hyrriiya played in the ordeal. The hack was responsible for 60,000 credit cards and associated data being stolen, the release of 5 million private emails, and cost Stratfor an estimated $3.78 million in damages. A follow-up is scheduled to be published Monday.

On Motherboard, reporter Dan Stuckey reveals how that same informant, Hector "Sabu" Monsegur, led a series of cyberattacks on the Brazilian government. Both reports raise questions about the oversight the FBI uses in cybercrime investigations involving informants.

"The saga of Jeremy Hammond—and all of the various characters and plot lines it involves—is one of the great stories of our digital age," says Daily Dot Managing Editor Austin Powell. "There are so many parts to the story that still need to be told, and we're discovering more of them every day. We're thrilled to be working with Motherboard, a publication we hold in the highest regard, to bring these stories to national prominence."

Both the Daily Dot and Motherboard will continue to collaboratively publish new reports based on the documents in the coming months.

About the Daily Dot

The Daily Dot is the Web's most comprehensive source for original Internet-community news and among the fastest growing media companies in the world. Our content reaches over 11 million digital natives each month, making it one of the top 1,200 websites in the United States and one of the top 100 on mobile. The Daily Dot tells the story of the Internet each day with uninhibited reporting on its leaders, apps, memes, and movements. It's real journalism for the Internet age. 

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