Sabu, Hector X. Monsegur, and Dan Stuckey pictured at the Vice 25th Anniversary Party. Conesec makeover courtesy AnonyMissOps on Twitter

Hector Xavier Monsegur, better known as the Anonymous, LulzSec, and AntiSec firebrand turned FBI informant Sabu, is back on Twitter.

And just as contrite as ever.

Naturally the Legion on social media, Anonymous and not, took it as well as you’d expect.

His old account, @AnonymouSabu, has been shuttered, and now is reportedly managed by ex-Vice journalist Dan Stuckey, RT journalist Andrew Blake, and Daily Dot writer Dell Cameron, who collectively run The Sabu Files, an online resource (currently offline) for documents about the infamous former hacktivist. After this article was published, Cameron reached us on Twitter to issue a denial that he controlled the account, and to remind us that we had forgotten to include Blake.

The related Twitter account, @Sabufiles, has not tweeted since February. Stuckey and Cameron were previously part of the team at @YourAnonNews, the most prominent Anonymous account in the world, and one which has condemned, since they were first made public, Monsegur’s actions with the FBI, actions the FBI itself credited in court with making the arrests of fellow LulzSec and AntiSec crewmates such as Jeremy Hammond, possible.

The first thing anyone attempting a comeback in the 21st Century does is sanitize his social media history, and Sabu/Monsegur is no different. By creating a new account, swapping in the formerly famous AnonymouSabu handle, and renaming his account with his “civilian” handle, he or his handlers have only to scrub the twitter stream of the account with the new name, removing the more embarrassing, incendiary, or potentially indictable exhortations. And they have already begun. The former fire-breathing hacktivist is being made over as a misunderstood family man, the “Fuck Anonymous, I’m at Spa Castle” shout rebranded as the cri de coeur of a misunderstood outcast, here in dialogue with journalist Cassandra Fairbanks, a staunch friend and defender of Jeremy Hammond’s.

Fortunately for archivists, the Internet never forgets a tweet, and over 500 of his tweets have been collected in this Scribd document.

Another untotaled, but significant, chunk relating to apparent incitement to attacks against Interpol have been archived by journalist Nigel Parry, also curator of the Scribd collection.

Sabu says HACK ALL THE THINGS

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: he was Anonymous’ most gifted political polemicist, and he fooled thousands of us for years. And now he’s trying to be something quite different. The internet, however, has a tendency to stick to one’s shoes.

The timing of Monsegur’s return is no accident: in the midst of a public attempt at a comeback, he’s got events to promote, and promote them he does.

Suits and Spooks and SNITCHES via Justin Shattuck on Facebook

You can already guess how Anonymous responded.

Led by the Twitter account FreeJeremyNet, which supports justice for incarcerated AntiSec hacker Jeremy Hammond (formerly Sabu’s trusted “secret weapon” hacker, now his bitter enemy), Anonymous across social media and beyond called for … well, a large number of things, beginning with an in-person protest of the kind that first brought Anonymous to prominence, back in 2008.

On June 20, 2015, the tech conference “Suits and Spooks” will be holding a discussion with none other than infamous snitch Sabu as their guest speaker. We want everyone to come out in solidarity with not only Jeremy, but the other members of LulzSec who were persecuted because of Sabu’s betrayal.

Bring signs, noisemakers, and banners – we will hold a gathering outside of SOHO House to remind the attendees of those who are still suffering while Sabu profits from his cowardly actions.

Sabu’s panel is at 3 PM. We will meet outside the hotel at around 2 PM. No room for snitches and informants! We do not forget Jeremy Hammond!

Masks optional, but like, duh.

The Facebook event has fewer than a hundred confirmed attendees so far, some of whom live outside of the country and who have likely clicked Attend in solidarity, if not hope of actually manifesting on the appointed date.

But wait, there’s more. Of course there’s more.

Event organizers were quick to capitalize on the outrage; as we at The Cryptosphere discovered during Sabu Week, hate clicks are at least as valuable as love clicks. Surely the world is not short of people who wouldn’t mind paying $300 to be within tomato-pitching distance of the most infamous man in hacktivism.

Organizer of Suits and Spooks Jeffrey Carr, riding the crest of the notoriety wave, issued an invitation to Sabu-haters in Anonymous: they could buy a ticket (Half price early bird special!) to see the Man Himself, and maybe even ask questions from the audience.

That did not go over well among the Anonymous Hive, who would prefer none of their money be given to certain speakers. Carr, a quick learner, subsequently walked it back, offering “Anonymous Leaders” 60 minutes of stage time, free admission, and an honorarium.

We inquired whether the honorarium was the same as was paid to Monsegur, but haven’t received a response by the time this article went live.

Given the potential for drama and media coverage, that’s not a bad investment on the part of the conference. But no word on whether or not they will accept. Yet.

The Rustle League survivors and related trolls had the proverbial field day with the concept of “Anonymous Leaders.” Some, however, took Carr at his word.

Former LulzSec Eminence Grise Jake Davis, aka T0piary, offered an actual suggestion, another former LulzSeccer who, thanks to the happy confluence of a) not having a prison record and b) having an American passport, could attend.

Another American Anon stepped up to the plate, none other than the Hive’s favourite punching boy, Deric Lostutter, aka KYAnonymous. The collective had actually been in the middle of one of its periodic “Twitter Trash Deric” parties when the news of Sabu’s return dropped.

Lostutter, a sometime DJ, has never been so upstaged in his life, but true to his instincts didn’t let the moment pass without scrambling back on that internet juggernaut, hate clicks or no hate clicks.

Soho house floor plan via Gary Wickmiller on Facebook

Condemnation, even among the event’s target audience, has been surprisingly widespread. Even the normally stolidly anti-Anonymous Facebook group for 2600, The Hacker Quarterly, has produced a 66-comment thread which includes both amusing cartoons of pitchfork-wielding mobs, and the actual floor plans of Soho House, the event venue. Full disclosure: I’m a moderator of that group, and contributed to the thread. What can I say, InfoSec makes strange bedfellows. One commenter from the Anti-Anonymous (specifically anti-moral crusading Anonymus) group Clownsec even offered me a ride to the event.

But leave it to the world’s Premier Troll to have the last, mic-dropping word on the matter.

Categories: Activism, Anonymous, AntiSec, Breaking, Conferences, Crime, Cyber, FBI, Hackers, Hacktivism, Hector Xavier Monsegur, Informants, LulzSec, Media, News, Protests, Sabu, Sabu Week, Security, Social Media, Trolls, Twitter