A Nebraska man is expected to plead guilty next week to launching a cyber
attack that shut down the Church of Scientology's Web sites, federal prosecutors
said Monday.
Brian Thomas Mettenbrink, 20, of Grand Island, Nebraska, was accused of
participating in an attack orchestrated by a group that called itself "Anonymous."
The group led protests against the church in various parts of the country
before announcing in January 2008 that it would launch a cyber offensive, said
Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.
Mettenbrink admitted in court that he downloaded software from an "Anonymous"
message board and used it to launch "denial of service" attacks on Scientology
Web sites.
