14 DAY TRIAL // A 24-year-old hacker, allegedly a member of the Anonymous collective, was arrested, authorities believing him to be responsible for the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack launched on Gene Simmons’ website.
According to The Daily Beast, the attacker used a hacking tool called Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) to take down the KISS rocker and Family Jewels star’s personal site.
Kevin George Poe was apprehended by authorities in Manchester, Connecticut, and now faces charges of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer.
“We evaluated servers and were able to discern an IP address that brought us to him,” said Thom Mrozek, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in LA.
“There was a significant amount of forensic work involved. We are dealing with a group that is quite sophisticated and will take efforts to conceal their identity.”
Reportedly, the attack on Simmons’ website took place as part of Operation Payback, a campaign launched by Anonymous with the purpose of punishing those who support anti-piracy campaigns.
The rock star was targeted after he spoke at a conference, encouraging copyright holders to make sure their “brand is protected” by suing everyone and taking all their possessions if they “cross the line.”
Soon after his speech, Anonymous hackers took down his website by sending a large number of requests to his website, using LOIC, until it crashed. Simmons didn’t give up that easily and right after the website was back online, he started threatening those responsible.
"Our legal team and the FBI have been on the case, and we have found a few, shall we say 'adventurous' young people, who feel they are above the law. And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off,” he wrote on his site.
After FBI and special agents took him into custody, a bail was set for $10,000 (7,000 EUR) and the suspect was released. If he’s found guilty, he can face up to 15 years in prison.