Latvian 'Matrix' Hacker Exposes Corrupt Gov't

A hacker on a mission to expose greed and waste in high places is rapidly becoming a folk hero in recession-hammered Latvia. The hacker, who uses the name Neo from the hero in the Matrix film series, has exposed the salaries of top government officials online and revealed that managers at a bailed-out bank lied when promising they would take pay cuts. He has also revealed that state-owned companies secretly handed out bonuses while begging for government help.

"A lot of people perceive him as a modern, virtual Robin Hood" whose actions will create a more transparent system, an announcer for a state-owned TV channel tells the BBC. "Neo" is part of a group that calls itself the Fourth Awakening People's Army, which announced this week that it had stolen millions of classified records from the tax department's computers. (More Latvia stories.)