A social media editor for the Thomson Reuters news agency has been fired after being charged with helping members of the hacker group “Anonymous” gain illegal access to the computer system of another media company where he once worked.
Matthew Keys was indicted last month on charges that he conspired with Anonymous by providing them log-in credentials for computers of the Tribune Company, enabling one of the hackers to deface the Web site of the Los Angeles Times. Matthews had formerly worked for a Sacramento, Calif., TV station owned by the Tribune Company. McKenzie Weinger of Politico reports:
Keys, who was Reuters’ deputy social media editor, wrote on Twitter, “Just got off the phone. Reuters has fired me, effective today. Our union will be filing a grievance. More soon.”
Keys has not yet responded to POLITICO’s request for comment. Reuters spokesperson David Girardin confirmed to POLITICO in an email that “Keys is no longer with the company, effective today.” . . .
He had previously been suspended from Reuters, with pay.
Ironically, after Keys was hired by Reuters in January 2012, his first blog post for that agency was about the Anonymous hacker collective. Several members of the loosely-organized group have been charged with federal crimes. Members of one Anonymous cell known as “LulzSec” were arrested in March 2012 after a leader, Hector Xavier “Sabu” Monsegur, turned federal informant. Barrett Brown, a Texas-based writer who once acted as a de facto spokesman for Anonymous, was arrested last September after he recorded a bizarre YouTube rant in which he threatened to “destroy” an FBI agent. Brown is currently in federal custody, awaiting trial on multiple felony charges.
In one respect, I like the Anonymous/Hackers doing what they can for internet freedom. Given current trends, in a few years the only sites on the net that aren't "protected" as "intellectual property" will be the ones controlled and monitored by governments.
But they don't seem to believe in ANY property, privacy, or personal rights, And they are continually going too far, violating all those rights, including at least what seems to be unlawful harassment and stalking, and possibly even "SWATting" which is also clearly criminal and endangering lives. And in the rare cases they are caught in these clearly illegal acts, they must be exposed and prosecuted. It would do society no good to merely replace Big Brother with Big Anonymous.
And - is Barrett Brown a writer? Just because his tox screen rivaled Hunter S. Thompson's doesn't make him a writer!