Hackers arrested in sweep
PARIS – Interpol said that 25 suspected members of the loose- knit Anonymous hacker movement have been arrested in a sweep across Europe and South America.
The international police agency said in a statement that the arrests in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Spain were carried out by national law enforcement officers working under the support of Interpol's Latin American Working Group of Experts on Information Technology Crime.
The suspects, aged between 17 and 40, are suspected of planning coordinated cyberattacks against institutions including Colombia's defense ministry and presidential websites, Chile's Endesa electricity company and national library, as well as other targets.
The arrests followed an ongoing investigation begun in mid- February which also led to the seizure of 250 items of IT equipment and mobile phones in searches of 40 premises in 15 cities, Interpol said.
In Chile's capital, Subprefect Jamie Jara said at a news conference that authorities arrested five Chileans and a Colombian. Two of the Chileans are 17year-old minors.
The case was being handled by prosecutor Marcos Mercado, who specializes in computer crime. He said the suspects were charged with altering websites, including that of Chile's National Library, and engaging in denial- ofservice attacks on websites of the electricity companies Endesa and Hidroaysen . The charges carry a penalty of 541 days to five years in prison, he said.
Jara said the arrests resulted from a recently begun investigation and officials do not yet know if those arrested are tied to any "illicit group."