Anonymous suspects bailed – banned from using online nicknames and IRC

Four men appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court today in connection with various Anonymous and LulzSec internet attacks, and were granted bail on the condition that they did not use specific online nicknames on the internet or IRC.

Hackers affiliated with Anonymous and LulzSec have used IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels as their primary method of coordinating attacks and communicating with each other, using online nicknames as a veil of anonymity.

The men will break the conditions of their bail if they use specific online nicknames on websites:

20-year-old Christopher Jan Weatherhead, from Northampton, cannot use the internet nickname “Nerdo”.

Ashley Rhodes, 26, from London, is banned from calling himself “NikonElite” online.

22-year-old student Peter David Gibson, of Hartlepool, County Durham, is banned from using the name “Peter” on the internet (which must be…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.