Chicago Man Pleads Guilty of Hacking into Stratfor

Stole credit card information and other data

A Chicago man who used the moniker Anarchaos has pled guilty to breaking into computer systems used by Texas-based intelligence firm Stratfor in 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Jeremy Hammond and other members of AntiSec, an offshoot of the hacker confederation Anonymous, stole credit card information and other confidential data from the firm, Strategic Forecasting Inc., prosecutors said.

Margaret Ratner Kunstler, one of his lawyers, said that Mr. Hammond entered a guilty plea in an effort to avoid the possibility of a 30-year prison term.

"It's clear that the government is protecting these corporations as if they are individuals," she said.