The FBI has recently arrested two alleged members of the hacking group LulzSec and Anonymous in Phoenix and San Francisco.
The person arrested in Arizona is a student at a technical university and allegedly participated in the widely publicized hack against Sony.
The suspected hacker arrested in California, who is reported to be homeless, and alleged to have been involved in the hacking of Santa Cruz County government websites. Just because a man is homeless, of course, doesn't mean that he can't get an internet connection. Coffee houses, cafes, libraries, etc can all offer cheap or free internet access - and because the computer being used can be a shared device, it may be harder to identify who might have been responsible for an attack compared to a PC at a home.
These arrests shouldn't surprise anyone because they made two fundamental mistakes: They brought too much attention to themselves and they didn't cover up their tracks.
The logs maintained by HideMyAss.com, in addition to other evidence, has led to the arrest of Cody Kretsinger, 23, from Phoenix, who allegedly used this anonymity service during his role in the attack on Sony Pictures.
According to HideMyAss.com, “…services such as ours do not exist to hide people from illegal activity. We will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if it has become evident that your account has been used for illegal activities.” The service stores logs for 30-days when it comes to Website proxy services, and they store the connecting IP address, as well as time stamps for those using the VPN offerings.
The FBI believes that the homeless man they arrested was "Commander X", a member of the People's Liberation Front (PLF) associated with Anonymous hacktivism. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted.