Convicted Hacker Jeremy Hammond to Testify in Virginia
American activist and computer hacker from Chicago Jeremy
Hammond, who also founded the computer security training website called
HackThisSite in 2003, was called to testify to a federal grand jury in Virginia
on Tuesday.
Hammond, who was earlier convicted of a computer fraud in
2013 for hacking the Texas-based Strategic Forecasting Inc., known as Stratfor and
releasing data to the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, was sentenced to 10
years in prison. The leaks also targeted the FBI’s Virtual Academy, the Arizona
Department of Public Safety, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, and the
Jefferson County, Alabama, Sheriff’s Office.
As a result, Hammond is currently incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution, Memphis, in Tennessee, with a release date of June 2, 2020.
With respect to Tuesday’s testifying calls, the supporters
of Jeremy Hammond claimed that he was summoned against his will to the Alexandrian
grand jury, though the Prosecutors declined to comment on the entire issue.
Hammond believes that the subpoena is largely a part of WikiLeaks investigation, whose founder Julian Assange is incarcerated in HM Prison Belmarsh, following the US seeking extradition. Even though Hammond admitted to the accusations of leaking hacked data to WikiLeaks, his supporters have largely been calling him a “victim of circumstances”.
At the time of being sentenced, Hammond claimed that he was
unaware of the private intelligence firm Stratfor’s vulnerabilities until he
was given them by Sabu, which is an online pseudonym for an American computer
hacker who was “under the supervision of the FBI”.
In the past, former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea
Manning, who refused to testify to the WikiLeaks grand jury, has also been sentenced
up to 18 months for civil contempt.
Before being sentenced, Jeremy Hammond argued over the
justifications of his crime, saying that the hacks were basically an attempt to
expose the government and private surveillance has been eagerly waiting for his
release. His supporters, who largely claimed that he was going to be released
at the end of the year after receiving credit for an ongoing participation in a
drug-abuse program, now worry over his incarceration – which could be extended
by two more years as the participation was disrupted.
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