Italian police crack down on Anonymous hackers

Italian police claimed on Tuesday to have arrested some members of the hacker group Anonymous following a series of raids, but the hacktivist group remained defiant. Amid the recent arrests, the Anonymous group vowed to make "louder" its continued fight for the freedom of the Internet. "The Italian Anonymous have not fallen because of this cowardly attempt to dismantle them and announce consequences for there actions taken by the police, to demonstrate that Anonymous is present and fights on, like it did in the past and will in the future, for the freedom of the Internet. Italy Anonymous calls all citizens of the Internet and the international Anonymous: We need you! Let them have it, stronger than ever," it said. A report on GamesRadar.com said that Italian police arrested 15 suspected Anonymous members for attacks on Sony's servers. Citing information from Italian newspaper La Republica, it said that those arrested are suspected to be part of Anonymous' Italian arm. Five of the suspects were minors, the report added. But Anonymous belied some media reports claiming the group's "leaders" were among those arrested. "Anonymous denies these media reports (and) reiterates that this is impossible: Anonymous is not been dismantled. Anonymous has no leaders, no structure. All Anonymous members operate at the same level," it said. It added those arrested are not “dangerous hackers" as the media calls them, "but people like you. They have been arrested while peacefully protesting for there and your rights." "Our protest will continue louder than ever," it said. — TJD, GMA News