Categories: Top story of the day

Man who hacked Zimbabwe government website released

A New York man who hacked into Zimbabwe government computers in 2011 and tried to steal information from the government email server was freed today largely because of the role he played as an informant to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. Hector Xavier Monsegur served only seven months and prosecutors said this was enough. Monsegur is said to have helped to thwart 300 planned cyber attacks. He also provided information that has led to the arrests of at least eight major co-conspirators, including Jeremy Hammond, who was the FBI’s No. 1 cybercriminal target when he was arrested in 2012. Hammond was sentenced to 10 years for his hacking-related activities. One of the Zimbabwean websites that was attacked and went down for months was that of the Ministry of Finance which was under Tendai Biti.

(176 VIEWS)

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Share
Published by
Charles Rukuni

Recent Posts

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwean Constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to decide

Britain says amendment of the Zimbabwe constitution is a sovereign, legislative matter for Zimbabwe to…

March 24, 2026

Who started the war?

It is now 47 years since I wrote the short story below for a South…

March 4, 2026

Zimbabwe 2026 monetary policy statement at a glance

Zimbabwe has released its 2026 monetary policy statement in which it seeks to stabilise its…

March 1, 2026

Was Chombo Mugabe’s number two?

Far from it, on paper that is. Ignatius Chombo was one of the longest serving…

February 6, 2026

Zimbabwe’s 2026 citizen’s budget

Zimbabwe on Thursday announced a ZiG290.9 billion budget with revenue expected to be ZiG287.6 billion,…

November 30, 2025

IMF says Zimbabwe’s economic recovery in 2025 is stronger than previously anticipated

The International Monetary Fund says Zimbabwe’s economic recovery in 2025 is stronger than previously anticipated…

November 8, 2025