Hector Xavier Monsegur, known online as Sabu, was a LulzSec member who pleaded guilty in 2011 and then cooperated with law enforcement. Prosecutors announced charges against four other alleged members in March 2012. The FBI later credited Monsegur’s cooperation with helping identify and arrest co-conspirators and prevent or mitigate planned cyberattacks.
Who was Sabu, and what did prosecutors say about LulzSec?
Hector Xavier Monsegur used the online alias Sabu. The FBI said he and Ryan Ackroyd, Jake Davis, and Darren Martyn formed Lulz Security, usually called LulzSec, in May 2011, after earlier activity under the name Internet Feds. Prosecutors attributed attacks against PBS, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Bethesda Softworks to the group.
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On March 6, 2012, federal prosecutors unsealed charges against Ackroyd, Davis, Martyn, and Donncha O’Cearrbhail. The same announcement disclosed that Monsegur had pleaded guilty on August 15, 2011. The charging release’s headline referred to more than 1 million victims; that headline figure should not be treated as a separately verified count of people whose data was taken.
Which people were charged or arrested, and how were their cases different?
The cases involved different alleged roles and procedural stages. The FBI’s March 2012 announcement concerned four charged LulzSec suspects and disclosed Monsegur’s earlier guilty plea. Separate FBI announcements concerned two suspects in Sony Pictures investigations; they should not be conflated with the four charged LulzSec members.
#1 Best Overall
| Person or group | Connection or alleged role | Procedural status in the cited announcements |
|---|---|---|
| Hector Xavier Monsegur (“Sabu”) | The FBI described him as a LulzSec member and said he helped form the group. | Pleaded guilty on August 15, 2011; later sentenced after cooperating. |
| Ryan Ackroyd, Jake Davis, and Darren Martyn | The FBI named them, along with Monsegur, as LulzSec founders. | Charged in the federal announcement unsealed March 6, 2012. |
| Donncha O’Cearrbhail | Named among the LulzSec suspects in the 2012 charging announcement. | Charged in the federal announcement unsealed March 6, 2012. |
| Cody Kretsinger (“recursion”) | A separate suspect in the Sony Pictures investigation. | The FBI announced his arrest separately; its release said the extent of damage was still being investigated. |
| A suspect using “neuron,” “royal,” and “wildicv” | A separate Sony-related suspect, identified by those aliases. | The FBI later announced a second Sony-related arrest. |
The investigation was led by the FBI, with assistance from New Scotland Yard’s Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), Ireland’s Garda, and Justice Department cybercrime units, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The announcement identifies those agencies’ involvement but does not, by itself, establish each charged person’s precise role in every incident.
Why was Sabu called an FBI informant?
Contemporaneous coverage called Monsegur an FBI informant because, after pleading guilty, he cooperated with law enforcement under its direction. In its 2014 sentencing account, the FBI said he helped identify and locate eight co-conspirators, leading to their arrests. It also credited him with helping prevent or mitigate more than 300 cyberattacks that were planned or already underway.
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The cooperation was part of his criminal case, not a reason to treat allegations against other defendants as proven. Monsegur’s guilty plea and assistance are distinct from the charges prosecutors brought against Ackroyd, Davis, Martyn, and O’Cearrbhail.
What happened in the Sony Pictures and Bethesda cases?
Prosecutors alleged that the Sony Pictures incident involved SQL injection and the theft of confidential information. The FBI’s accounts described approximately 100,000 Sony website users’ confidential data and approximately 200,000 Bethesda website users’ information. These are figures attributed to the FBI and prosecutors, rather than independently established totals in the announcements.
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Rank #3
The FBI separately announced Kretsinger’s arrest in a Sony Pictures investigation and later announced another Sony-related arrest involving a suspect known by three aliases. Those announcements concern Sony investigations; they do not change the separate charging status of the four LulzSec suspects in the March 2012 case.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How did the FBI catch LulzSec?
The official accounts establish that Monsegur became a cooperating defendant and that his assistance helped investigators identify, locate, and arrest co-conspirators. They do not explain in detail how investigators first identified or apprehended Monsegur, so a more specific account of the initial investigative breakthrough is not established by these announcements.
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What sentence did Sabu receive?
The FBI reported that Monsegur received a sentence of time served and one year of supervised release, after previously serving seven months in prison. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska described his cooperation as “truly extraordinary.”
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