Anonymous hackers claim breach of US security firm

Dec 26, 2011, 18:33 GMT

San Francisco - Hackers claiming to represent the Anonymous group have penetrated the network of US security consultancy Stratfor, claiming to have stolen the company's confidential client list that includes such names as Apple, The US Air Force and the Miami Police Department.

In a Twitter posting, the hackers said they conducted the cyber raid on Sunday, using the credit card information stolen in the attack to make contributions to charitable organizations like the American Red Cross and CARE.

However, a later release from a different Anonymous account condemned the attack and intimated that it was perpetrated by rogue members of the loosely organized collective.

'Stratfor has been purposefully misrepresented by these so-called Anons,' said the later posting, who accused a renegade Anonymous member by the name of Sabu of perpetrating the raid. 'As a media source, Stratfor's work is protected by the freedom of press, a principle which Anonymous values greatly.'

Sratfor, which says it provides strategic intelligence on global business, economic, security and geopolitical affairs, denied that its client list had been compromised.

Though the company's website was down Monday it insisted that Anonymous had only managed to access a partial list of people and entities who had bought some of the company's publications.