HideMyAss defends role in LulzSec hack arrest
HideMyAss has defended its role in handing over evidence that resulted in the arrest of a suspected LulzSec member last week.
UK-based HideMyAss, which offers freebie web proxy and paid-for VPN services, said it handed over potentially incriminating data to the feds only in response to a court order. It had been aware that its service was being used by Anonymous/LulzSec members for some time before this without taking any action, as a
blog post headed LulzSec fiasco by the firm explains.
Cody Andrew Kretsinger, 23, of Phoenix, Arizona allegedly used HideMyAss.com's web proxy service to hack into the systems of Sony Picture Entertainment as part of a hack that exposed the personal details of thousands of gamers. According to the court order, Kretsinger used SQL injection techniques that were run via HideMyAss's anonymising web proxy service to launch the high-profile attack.
HideMyAss explains:
It first came to our attention when leaked IRC chat logs were released, in these logs participants discussed about various VPN services they use, and it became apparent that some members were using our service. No action was taken, after all there was no evidence to suggest wrongdoing and nothing to identify which accounts with us they were using.
At a later date it came as no surprise to have received a court order asking for information relating to an account associated with some or all of the above cases. As stated in our terms of service and privacy policy our service is not to be used for illegal activity, and as a legitimate company we will cooperate with law enforcement if we receive a court order (equivalent of a subpoena in the US).
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