US Justice Site Hacked Over US Activist Death

Hackers claiming to represent the group Anonymous have threatened to release sensitive information about the US Department of Justice over the death of an internet activist.

The group appeared to have hacked the website of the US Sentencing Commission and replaced the front page with a statement calling for reform of US prosecution law.

The attack appears to be a retaliation for the treatment of internet activist Aaron Swartz, who killed himself on January 11.

Mr Swartz, 26, was facing prosecution for allegedly hacking into a fee-paying academic database and releasing documents on to the internet for free.

The computer programmer, who was involved in developing social news site Reddit and web feed format RSS, was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment.

The statement read: "Through this website and various others that will remain unnamed, we have been conducting our own infiltration.

"We did not restrict ourselves like the FBI to one high-profile compromise. We are far more ambitious, and far more capable.

"We have enough fissile material for multiple warheads. Today we are launching the first of these. Operation Last Resort has begun..."

At the bottom of the page are listed nine files, referred to as "warheads", each named after a US Supreme Court judge.

The statement does not reveal what they contain.

Mr Swartz's death lead to accusations he felt hounded by the prosecution against him. Congress members have also raised concerns over the handling of the case.

Earlier this month, members of Anonymous hacked Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) websites. Mr Swartz is alleged to have used MIT's computer network to download the academic documents.