Police weren’t the only ones hunting bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev Friday afternoon. A hacker claiming to be affiliated with the group Anonymous targeted Tsarmaev while he was still on the run and released a file Friday afternoon that purportedly contained Tsarnaev’s personal information gleaned from the website of his school, UMass Dartmouth.
The hacker, who did not identify him- or herself with a name or digital nom de guerre, posted a file entitled “Terrorist user details, hacked by anonymous!” on the anonymous text-sharing site Pastebin. Included in the file were email addresses and a cellphone number identified as belonging to Tsarnaev. The cellphone number was the same one TPM saw on other sites linked to Tsarnaev.
In addition to his contact information, the file included links to screengrabs that seemed to show his personal pages on the UMass Dartmouth site where the information was supposedly taken from. These pictures displayed a class history for Tsarnaev that matches much of the description of his academic activity that was reported by the New York Times. It showed he had registered for a courseload that included introductory psychology, chemistry, and politics classes.
The hacker added an all-caps message to Tsarnaev, who had not yet been apprehended by authorities when the files were placed online.
“EVERYTHING WILL BE HACKED and I WILL SEND EVERYTHING TO THE POLICE TOO FUCK YOU IF YOU READING THIS SHIT U TERRORIST SCUMBAG,” they wrote.
At the end of the file, there was a sign off referencing several hacking icons including the well-known hacker groups Defonic Team Screen Name Club and Lulzsec, the hacker news site 2600, Anonymous, and the deceased internet activist Aaron Swartz.
“Swartz never forgotten son! #LulzSec #Anonymous #DFNCTSC #LulzSec #2600,” the hacker wrote.
As of this writing, a spokesman for UMass Dartmouth did not respond to a request for comment on this story. The UMass Dartmouth is currently closed after being evacuated Friday to allow authorities to search Tsarnaev’s dorm room and the rest of the school.
