14 DAY TRIAL // After a court appearance, four British men, accused of being behind the attacks launched by LulzSec and Anonymous hacker groups, were banned from using some of their online names.
On Wednesday morning, the accused Peter David Gibson, Ashley Rhodes, Christopher Weatherhead, and a minor whose name couldn't be mentioned, were released on bail after a hearing in front of a judge at Westminster magistrates court.
Aged between 17 and 26, they were forbidden from using the nicknames which are related to the online attacks launched against companies and organizations.
The Guardian informs us that the names “Peter,” “Nerdo” and “NikonElite” cannot be used by the alleged members of the hacker groups on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and on forums and IRC services formerly utilized by the cybercriminals.
Arrested this year, starting in April and up until September, the four will appear in court for a plea and a case management hearing in November, when they have the opportunity to tell their side of the story.
Two other suspects, whose names have not yet been released to the press, were arrested a few days ago in areas near South Yorkshire and Wiltshire. One of them is considered to be the notorious Kayla, key member in the LulzSec hacker gang.
The latter mentioned suspects are also expected to appear in front of authorities to give further explanations sometime in November.
Law enforcement officials hope that the arrests made lately will discourage other people from becoming cybercriminals, but this will only be possible if they manage to sentence these alleged hackers.
In a recent article, an Anonymous related group was cracking the online accounts of Hollywood celebrities, so even if some of the members of these factions are caught, the power of example will have to be put to the test in order to end all of this.