FBI Investigation Targets Anonymous Attacks Against Koch Industries

The FBI is investigating twelve individuals for allegedly participating in cyber attacks launched earlier this year by Anonymous against Koch Industries and related organizations.

Back in February, Anonumous launched #OpWisconsin, a campaign against Koch Industries and its owners David and Charles Koch whom they accused of trying to "undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin."

The hacktivist collective organized its usual distribute denial-of-service attacks against websites belonging the company and not-for-profit organizations like Americans for Prosperity which were set up by the Koch brothers.

According to a confidential FBI affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun, the FBI is currently investigating these attacks and has identified twelve suspects based on firewall logs provided by Koch Industries.

The publication censored the names listed in the document, but noted that some of the people targeted weren't most likely directly involved in the attacks. Such are the cases of a 51-year-old insurance worker from Iowa or an 83-year-old Florida grandmother.

Others might also have had their wireless networks hacked into and abused. Some of the suspects had their homes raided by FBI agents last week.

News of this new investigation comes after the feds recently arrested 16 individuals suspected of participating in Anonymous DDoS attacks against PayPal. Some of them face sentences of fifteen years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.

Anonymous has condemned these arrests and pointed out the disproportionate nature of the punishments. The hacktivist group claims that participating in a collective DDoS attack voluntarily is the digital equivalent of a sit-in and shouldn't be treated the same as using a botnet to take down websites.

However, regardless of whether this is right or wrong, the reality is that such actions are illegal in most countries and a significant number of people have already been arrested all over the world for participating in attacks organized by Anonymous.