Cody Kretsinger, Alleged 'LulzSec' Hacker From Arizona, on Way to L.A. for Sony Hacking Trial

By Simone Wilson Thu., Sep. 22 2011 at 3:15 PM

LulzSec does L.A.

The summer storm of hacks carried out by Anonymous offshoot LulzSec -- beginning with Fox News in May, and ending with News Corp. in July -- may have gone quiet, but the FBI is just now nabbing some of its alleged masterminds. (If you consider giggly, self-satisfied techies to be such.)

Perhaps the most high-profile LulzSec hack (besides the CIA attack) was that of Sony Pictures Entertainment, whose headquarters are located right here in Culver City. Today, FBI officials proudly announced the capture of 23-year-old Cody Kretsinger, alias "Recursion"...

... who they allege to have been behind the late-May/early-June Sony operation.

The fact that investigators found Kretsinger in Phoenix is telling. LulzSec's politically charged hack of Arizona law-enforcement records in June obviously had some local interest and know-how behind it, and surely cops in the area will have been hunting the perps harder than in other parts of the country, where LulzSec has faded from headlines.

Arizona Department of Public Safety lieutenant Larry Parks told us at the time that officials took the leak very personally:

The officer says he feels terrible for a few of his colleagues, who had their personal info -- wives' names, home addresses, cell phones -- posted on the "Chinga la Migra" home page.
"I find that a little disconcerting," he says. "It makes it a little personal -- makes you worry every time the phone rings."

But the charges Kretsinger faces in L.A. are solely stemming from the Sony breach, which exposed "one million users' personal data, 3.5 million digital coupons and 75,000 music codes." Via Electronista:

LulzSec, which doesn't pursue hacks for commercial gain, cast itself as doing both Sony and the public as a favor. The move would push Sony to lock down its security more thoroughly across its sites. For end users, it was a warning as to how easily compromised Sony's sites were even after the [PlayStation Network] hack and several follow-ups from different sources.

According to City News Service, Kretsinger will come before a federal magistrate in Phoenix today, "at which time the government will request he be transferred to Los Angeles, prosecutors said." If he's found guilty, he could be facing 15 years.

Only other thing we know about him is he loves Rebecca Black's viral "Friday" music video. Estranged LulzSec member m_nerva posted these logs from the group's private chatroom in late June, including a heap of incriminating statements from Recursion and an admission of "Friday" fandom:

Jun 02 13:55:46 Recursion also, fucking lul on the Friday song

Jun 02 13:55:49 Recursion who did this?

Jun 02 13:55:54 Recursion they deserve mad props.

Well, it's Kretsinger's lucky day: Black, along with the dudes who came up with the (very lulzy) video concept, make their home right here in L.A. And as long as he's sightseeing, we think the accused might also get a kick out of the nine-story statue of a rainbow currently being constructed at enemy headquarters.

[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]

Tags:

Anonymous, Cody Kretsinger, hackers, LulzSec, m_nerva, Recursion, Sony Pictures, Sony Studios

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Evan Spesard

I know Cody. I played in a couple bands with him. He seemed like just a computer nerd. I'm surprised at this for sure. But he's always been a nice enough guy.

Wolf's Fang

Hey guess what, some guy named John posted on a hacker's site, and then moved to D.C. during 9/11... OH MY GOD!? HE MOST OF BEEN IN ON THE ATTACK!

Don't post assumptions without clarifying in "detail". The main point of this is the Sony... Don't try and connect all these different cases to this ONE main thing.

Wolfs Fang

(not intended as a direct message to "Evan Spesard" - was a accident to reply directly to your comment)

aldestrawk

"The fact that investigators found Kretsinger in Phoenix is telling."

Allow me to explain something you may not be aware of about the internet. It doesn't matter much where servers are physically located. You can access, or attack, a server in Arizona from Texas, LA, or even the Shetland Islands. An attack does not require "local" knowledge. In all likelihood, after choosing a target category of law enforcement related websites, a Google dork was used to identify a site with a given SQL injection vulnerability (if you don't know what a Google dork is, you can look it up on the internet which a very useful tool). In this context, if a hacker was also located in the same state that would probably be just be coincidence. However, Kretsinger is not even alleged to be involved with the "Chinga la Migra" attacks. Furthermore, this Sony case was cracked through investigations by the Electronic Crimes Task Force (ECTF) in Los Angeles which does not include any law enforcement organization from Arizona. So, how was it telling that Kretsinger was found in Phoenix?

Truth

I would stop trying to piece together puzzle pieces like this. Just because he was found in Arizona does not mean he is any way affiliated with the group. If the case went cold, whose to say the FBI isn't just head hunting here. I find this whole situation bull.