Sabu (hacktivist)
| Hector Xavier Monsegur | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983 (age 33–34) |
| Other names | Sabu |
| Occupation | Cybersecurity |
| Employer | Rhino Security Labs |
| Known for | Founder of LulzSec |
Hector Xavier Monsegur (born 1983) known also by the online pseudonym Sabu (pronounced Sə'buː, Sæ'buː), is an American computer hacker and co-founder of the hacking group LulzSec. He later turned informant for the FBI, working with the agency for over ten months to aid them in identifying other hackers from LulzSec and related groups. LulzSec intervened in the affairs of organizations such as News Corporation, Stratfor, UK and American law enforcement bodies and Irish political party Fine Gael.
Sabu featured prominently in the group's published IRC chats, and claimed to support the "Free Topiary" campaign. The Economist referred to Sabu as one of LulzSec's six core members and their "most expert" hacker.
Sabu was identified by Backtrace Security as "Hector Monsegur [sic]" on March 11, 2011 in a PDF publication named "Namshub."
On June 25, 2011, an anonymous pastebin post claimed to identify Sabu as Hector Xavier Monsegur, a man of Puerto Rican origin.
At the time of his arrest, Xavier was a 28-year-old unemployedfoster parent of his two female cousins, who were the children of Sabu's incarcerated aunt. Sabu attended, but did not graduate from, Washington Irving High School. He had been living in his late grandmother's apartment in the Riis Houses in New York City.
On March 6, 2012, Sabu was revealed to be Hector Xavier Monsegur in a series of articles written by Jana Winter and published by FoxNews.com.
Federal agents arrested Monsegur on June 7, 2011. The following day, Monsegur agreed to become an informant for the FBI and to continue his "Sabu" persona. "Since literally the day he was arrested, the defendant has been cooperating with the government proactively," sometimes staying up all night engaging in conversations with co-conspirators to help the government build cases against them, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Pastore said at a secret bail hearing on August 5, 2011. A few days after that bail hearing, Monsegur entered a guilty plea to 12 criminal charges, including multiple counts of conspiracy to engage in computer hacking, computer hacking in furtherance of fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. He faced up to 124 years in prison.
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