FBI Serves Tens of Search Warrants in Connection with Anonymous DDoS Attacks

The FBI plans to execute over forty search warrants around the country to seize computers connected with Anonymous-organized DDoS attacks against PayPal and other companies.

A FBI spokesperson confirmed the existence of the search warrants, but refused to say how many of them were already executed, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Bureau warned on a previous occasion that engaging in distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) is illegal and punishable by ten years in prison.

The news comes after late last month court filings revealed the FBI was seeking a search warrant against a Dallas hosting company whose systems were used by the hacktivist group.

Anonymous was engaged in DDoS operations against the entertainment industry and anti-piracy groups until it vowed full support for WikiLeaks and Julian Assange at the beginning of December.

As part of that commitment, the group changed focus and launched DDoS attacks against PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Moneybookers, PostFinance and other companies deemed hostile to the whistleblowing website.

Two teenagers have already been arrested in the Netherlands back in December under suspicion of participating in Anonymous DDoS attacks and five were detained in UK yesterday.

There have not yet been any arrests in the United States, but the FBI is clearly building a case against Anonymous members. It wouldn't be the first time when Anons are charged with criminal offenses for their actions.

A 20-year-old Nebraska resident named Brian Thomas Mettenbrink was sentenced in May 2010 to one year in prison for his role in Anonymous DDoS attacks against the Church of Scientology,

In November 2009, Dmitriy Guzner, 19, of Verona, New Jersey, became the first individual to receive a jail sentence for Anonymous-related DDoS attacks.

The hacktivist group, which claims to fight for freedom of information, considers DDoS attacks the online equivalent of picketing and believe they should not be considered illegal in this context.