By Raphael Satter
London - An Irish police officer's email blunder led to the spectacular
leak of a sensitive conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard,
U.S. law enforcement said Tuesday.
An
indictment unsealed in a New York court alleges that a teenager linked
to the Lulz Security group of hackers was able to eavesdrop on the call
after an unnamed officer with Ireland's national police force forwarded a
work message to his insecure personal email account.
The
email, which apparently originated from the FBI's Timothy Lauster,
invited dozens of law enforcement officers from across Europe and the
United States to coordinate their efforts against LulzSec and its
amorphous umbrella group, Anonymous.
The
FBI's indictment said that 19-year-old Donncha O'Cearrbhail intercepted
the email and used the information in it to access and secretly record
the Jan. 17 call, which hackers subsequently broadcast across the
Internet.
The
indictment said O'Cearrbhail was charged with one count of computer
hacking conspiracy, and one count of intentionally disclosing an
unlawfully intercepted wire communication.
O'Cearrbhail
was one of five people charged in a multinational operation targeting
hackers linked to Lulz Security. His indictment was unsealed on Tuesday
as authorities revealed the group's ringleader had secretly become an
FBI informant and turned against his comrades.
A
spokesman for the Irish police, known as the Garda Siochana, refused to
comment either on the details of the O'Cearrbhail charge or on the
nature of the email blunder.
There appear to be only two Garda-linked names in Lauster's email: Paul Gillen and Colm Gallagher.
Neither officer returned messages seeking comment.
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