(In Jan. 26 story, removes reference in first paragraph to
Sentencing Commission as part of U.S. Justice Department)
WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Hackers sympathetic to the
late computer prodigy Aaron Swartz claimed on Saturday to have
infiltrated the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission and
said they planned to release government data.
The Sentencing Commission site,
, was shut down
early Saturday. The commission is an independent agency within
the judicial branch that helps craft sentencing guidelines.
Identifying themselves as Anonymous, a loosely organized
group of unknown provenance associated with a range of recent
online actions, the hackers voiced outrage over Swartz’ Jan. 11
suicide.
In a video posted online, the hackers criticized the
government’s prosecution of Swartz, who had been facing trial on
charges that he used the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s
computer networks to steal more than 4 million articles from
JSTOR, an online archive and journal distribution service.
Swartz had faced a maximum sentence of 31 years in prison
and fines of up to $1 million.
The FBI is investigating the attack, according to Richard
McFeely, of the bureau’s Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services
Branch.
“We were aware as soon as it happened and are handling it as
a criminal investigation,” McFeely said in an emailed statement.
“We are always concerned when someone illegally accesses another
person’s or government agency’s network.”
(Reporting by Deborah Zabarenko; Editing by Vicki Allen and
Bill Trott)
