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January 15, 2020 10:45 pm

FBI Arrests Man Suspected of Orchestrating Dozens of 'Swatting' Calls

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The U.S. government has criminally charged a Virginia man for helping to organize dozens of "swatting" attacks and bomb threats made against a variety of targets in the United States and Canada. The man allegedly belonged to a group that coordinated via IRC and Tor hidden services to target prominent gamers, journalists, and government officials. The group's online chats were often racist, with comments suggesting antipathy toward Jews and black people. In one case, the group made a fake bomb threat to the Alfred Street Baptist Church, a predominantly African American church in Alexandria, Virginia. Security reporter Brian Krebs was one of the first to report on the arrest of defendant John William Kirby Kelley. Krebs was the target of a swatting call he believes was organized by the group. Kelley allegedly did research for the group, identifying possible targets and suggesting that others make calls. He also helped maintain the group's infrastructure, according to the FBI. While Kelley is now in custody, two other suspects are still at large, according to the FBI. The bureau believes that these two suspects are the ones who actually made most of the calls at issue in the case. Evidently, the suspects' efforts to conceal their identities from law enforcement have been successful -- at least so far. Kelley was caught when he failed to properly block his number after calling a bomb threat to his own school. When searching his devices (after receiving a warrant), police found videos, chats, and other records Kelley had saved documenting his involvement in other hoax calls. They also found recruiting material for a violent white supremacist group.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


Original Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/AW16YNEmQhQ/fbi-arrests-man-suspected-of-orchestrating-dozens-of-swatting-calls

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