Soon after the whistleblower site started publicly releasing classified U.S. State Department cables late last November, PayPal terminated an account that WikiLeaks had set up to collect donations, citing violations of its terms of service.

The move prompted a series of angry retaliatory DDoS attacks against PayPal by members of the Anonymous hacking collective. Similar attacks were carried out by Anonymous members against that were seen as opposing WikiLeaks.

The attacks, dubbed "Operation Avenge Assange," were coordinated by Anonymous using an open source tool called Low Orbit Ion Cannon that the group made available for public download to anyone who wanted to participate.

The 14 individuals named in today's indictment in San Jose have each been charged with conspiring to and intentionally causing damage to a protected computer. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the intentional damage charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $500,000 charge, the FBI noted in its statement.

The individuals named in the San Jose indictment are Christopher Cooper, 23, Joshua Covelli, 26, Keith Downey, 26, Mercedes Haefer, 20, Donald Husband, 29, Vincent Kershaw, 27, Ethan Miles, 33, James Murphy, 36, Drew Phillips, 26, Jeffrey Puglisi, 28, Daniel Sullivan, 22, Tracy Valenzuela, 42 and Christopher Quang Vo, 22. One individual was unnamed.