14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve had the opportunity to have a chat with a former member of the infamous TeaMp0ison collective who has been recently raided by authorities. Although he has asked us not to reveal his true identity because the case is sealed, he wants to get his message out to all the black hats who are still active on the hacking scene.
“I got raided on June 26 by 16 FBI agents, 2 special agents and 2 helicopters at 6AM. On the same day, 30 other, including Cosmo and JoshTheGod were raided. They had search warrants for electronics pertaining to TeaMp0isoN, Anonymous, Guy Fawkes and a hacking forum,” he started his story.
“They surrounded my house thinking I had weapons. I don't even have a can of mace. I own a few pocket knives but those are out of the question. They took everybody outside in handcuffs, then persisted on trying to taunt me in a way like ‘finally we got this [expletive]!’,” he added.
As it had turned out, his past caught up with him. The agents started asking him all sorts of questions regarding his involvement in hacking operations.
He revealed, “They have been trying to turn me informant while they were searching my stuff, lying blatantly to my face. They're charging me with unauthorized access to a protected computer network and 3 different internet fraud charges.”
“They were monitoring me due to my ways of activism heroism. They noticed I had some own support, that was their main question to me besides TeaMp0isoN and UGNazi. The hacks I did that I was questioned about were the ones on a news station, a university, and the MI6 hotline, in which I had little affiliation.”
The blackhat learned the hard way what’s it like to be on the other side of the fence, but he also learned about the true powers of law enforcement.
“It’s been a wild 2 months. No computers or phones, so I've been using local net cafes,” the former member of TeaMp0isoN explained.
“So it’s proof they're monitoring activists without subpoenas. They can also legally lie to you so you'll cough up information about your friends. It’s a real bad manner, but at the same time I'm quite confused on what the feds are actually trying to do.”
According to the hacker, he has contacted us because he wants to send out a clear message to the active community.
“Only thing I have to say to people is that the life of a blackhat is not worth the trouble and that I hope this does send a clear message out to people that you are not anonymous online, nothing is secure anymore. Be ethical and do good with your skills instead of bad, or you could meet the fate like the rest of the other big fish,” the hacker stated.
“The scene is definitely filled with plants (informants) like in any other field a federal agent is assigned to investigate in. Police have several informants, so a logless VPN and hacked Wi-Fi network are pointless when you have someone ratting on you,” he further noted.
“I just want this article to go out to the young audience in the scene and security industry, hoping it makes a positive influence, rather than the ones you hear from these other guys. A blackhat’s life is tough. Don't step into it if you can't accept a visit to jail or a visit from the FBI.”
“Never let the man tell you to change what you believe in, but do good for the internet, protest in person instead of through hacks. Research and learn and maintain knowledge, stay out of trouble by any means and enjoy your freedom.”
He claims that he hasn’t gone to court yet, and he isn’t sure if he’ll ever be called in front of a judge.
“If it were to go to a judge it wouldn't go to trial due to them not reading my rights. That's why I'm confident that I might not even stand in front of a judge,” he said.
“On the bright side of things, I have a security company that's taking me for my skills thanks to TeaMp0isoN being a pen testing ref on my resume,” he concluded.