Dmitriy Guzner vs Scientology

Fri,20 Nov 2009 05:50 GMT -4:00 http://www.p2pnet.net/story/31330

- Three days before his 20th birthday, Dmitriy Guzner was looking at up to two-and-half years in jail and amost $119,000 in fines after pleading guilty to “unauthorized impairment of a protected computer” —-

—- a Cult of Scientology computer.

“In January 2008, online hackers launched a massive attack on the Church of Scientology’s websites, forcing the church to hire computer security experts to reinstate its online presence,” says nj.com.

In the end, only one Guzner, from Verona, New Jersey, “caught the attention of federal authorities after a YouTube video of a protest of the Church of Scientology in New York City identified one of the participants — the individual in the center — as ‘Aendy,’ which is also Guzner’s online handle,”says the story, going on:

“According to the Anonymous website whyweprotest.net, the group was upset by the church’s attempts to suppress a leaked promotional video featuring actor and Scientologist Tom Cruise, who made enthusiastic claims about the religion.”

“I think they were relying on a very simple premise, that the number of people arrested and convicted of these kinds of attacks is very low,” said Jose Nazario, manager of security research at Arbor Networks, which helps companies keep their websites secure.

Video from Scientology raid in New York by the group Anonymous

The FBI and US Secret Service, as part of the Electronic Crimes Task Force in Los Angeles, “worked together to identify Aendy as Guzner,”says nj.com, continuing, “They searched his home in Brooklyn and turned up a Guy Fawkes mask.”

Prosecutors “have recommended Guzner be sentenced to 12 months to 18 months with no chance of parole, followed by two to three years of probation,” says nj.com adding:

“Three weeks ago, a second man was charged in connection with the DDoS attack. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted Brian Thomas Mettenbrink on charges of conspiracy and transmission of a code, information, program or command to a protected computer. The 20-year-old is accused of participating in the attack from his Iowa State University dorm room, according to the indictment.

“In March 2008, before his arrest, Guzner posted on an online message board a link to a site he created for a class. Instead of using filler text for one sample page, he included a narrative that spoofs the Tom Cruise video, based on Cruise’s claim that Scientologists are the only ones who can help in a car crash.”

Cruise is “depicted rescuing a woman from a four-car pileup on the freeway: ‘Stand back, emergency workers,’ Cruise says in the story, which is widely copied on Anonymous websites. ‘Put down your jaws-of-life and crowbars. I am a Scientologist’.”

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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi



nj.com – Verona man admits role in attack on Church of Scientology’s websites, November 16, 2009

leaked promotional video – It’s wild, it’s wooly! Tom Cruise video transcribed, January 18, 2008


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