Some members of Anonymous didn't fall for it:
Sabu and his crew are nothing more than opportunistic attention wh*res who are possibly agent provocateurs.
But many more did and participated in later hacks and releases.
It's an interesting timeline: Sabu is arrested on June 7 and immediately cooperates. On June 19, out came AntiSec seeking recruits. On June 25, LulzSec announces it's done and throws it support to AntiSec. On June 29, AntiSec releases its first document dump.
It has been a week since the LulzBoat lowered the LulzSec flag, she now proudly flies under the #AntiSec colors. Since this day, the movement is organized by a flotilla of independent but allied vessels.
In this short time, the friendly vessels were able to capture copious amounts of booty, all claimed in the name of #AntiSec. Make no mistake: While the LulzBoat is still sailing with us (albeit not with the LulzSec flag), the objective of #AntiSec is different. Despite being still driven by Lulz and therefore also providing them, the mission has become larger than us. #AntiSec is more than Lulz and more than even Anonymous: It is our true belief that this movement has the capability to change the world. And should that fail, we will at least rock the world.
I'm not the first to wonder if AntiSec was a sting operation conceived by the Feds with Sabu's help after his arrest. Or whether the FBI could have stopped the release of Stratfor data or AntiSec's hack of the website of the law firm that represented Frank Wuterich in the Haditha murders. (Anti-Sec takes credit here.)
Here's a tweet from Sabu right before he "disappears" for a month on August 17:
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone.
He was back a month later, claiming he never left. In this tweet the same day, he says:
They tried to snitch me out, troll me, dox every one around me, bait me into endless arguments but theres one thing they can't do: STOP ME!
Arrests aside, how many of the hacks and credit card thefts Sabu promoted during his cooperation could have been prevented by the FBI, had agents and prosecutors not thought it more important to get hackers away from their keyboards and into prison than prevent identity theft and protect innocent consumers? I hope the answer is none. If it isn't, the FBI has some explaining to do.
