This article is atleast a few years old, but viewing the recent events, I decided to share the interest.
2011- Hacker group LulzSec disbands after attacks on CIA, Sony and others
By Staff,
The Associated Press
NEW YORK, N.Y. – A publicity-seeking hacker group that has left a
trail of sabotaged websites over the last two months, including attacks
on law enforcement and releases of private data, said unexpectedly on
Saturday it is dissolving itself.
Lulz Security made its announcement through its Twitter account. It
gave no reason for the disbandment, but it could be a sign of nerves in
the face of law enforcement investigations. Rival hackers have also
joined in the hunt, releasing information they say could point to the
identities of the six-member group.
"At just after midnight (BST, UT+01)
on 26 June 2011, LulzSec released a "50 days of lulz" statement, which
they claimed to be their final release, confirming that LulzSec
consisted of seven members, and that their website is to be shut down" (Wiki).
One of the group’s members was interviewed by The Associated Press on
Friday, and gave no indication that its work was ending. LulzSec
claimed hacks on major entertainment companies, FBI partner
organizations, the CIA, the U.S. Senate and a pornography website.
Kevin Mitnick, a security consultant and former hacker, said the
group had probably concluded that the more they kept up their
activities, the greater the chance that one of them would make some
mistake that would enable authorities to catch them. They’ve inspired
copycat groups around the globe, he noted, which means similar attacks
are likely to continue even without LulzSec.
“They can sit back and watch the mayhem and not risk being captured,” Mitnick said.
As a parting shot, LulzSec released a grab-bag of documents and login
information apparently gleaned from gaming websites and corporate
servers. The largest group of documents – 338 files – appears to be
internal documents from AT&T Inc., detailing its buildout of a new
wireless broadband network in the U.S. The network is set to go live
this summer. A spokesman for the phone company could not immediately
confirm the authenticity of the documents.
"The release included accounts and passwords from many different
sources. Despite claims of retirement, the group committed another hack
against newspapers owned by News Corporation on 18 July, defacing them with false reports regarding the death of Rupert Murdoch. The group helped launch Operation AntiSec, a joint effort involving LulzSec, Anonymous, and other hackers" (Wiki).
In the Friday interview, the LulzSec member said the group was
sitting on at least 5 gigabytes of government and law enforcement data
from across the world, which it planned to release in the next three
weeks. Saturday’s release was less than a tenth of that size.
In an unusual strategy for a hacker group, LulzSec has sought
publicity and conducted a conversation with the public through its
Twitter account. Observers believe it’s an offshoot of Anonymous, a
larger, more loosely organized group that attempts to mobilize hackers
for attacks on targets it considers immoral, like oppressive Middle
Eastern governments and opponents of the document-distribution site
WikiLeaks. LulzSec, on the other hand, attacked anyone they could for
“the lulz,” which is Internet jargon for “laughs.”
© The Canadian Press, 2011
2013- LulzSec hacker gets prison in Sony Pictures attack
By Staff,
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES – A 25-year-old hacker with the group known as LulzSec was
sentenced Thursday to a year in prison and ordered to pay $605,663 in
restitution for an attack on Sony Pictures computers that began in late
May 2011.
One of the members pleaded guilty last April to the attack, in which hackers breached the
Sony Pictures website, stole personal data including the names,
addresses, phone numbers and email addresses of tens of thousands of
Sony customers and distributed it over the Internet.
Another member, a 20-year-old who also pleaded guilty to the attack in October, is to be sentenced May 16.
Yes, I am well aware that stealing information is bad especially personal information of innocent people. I do however see the bigger picture when it comes to hacking, i mean most of these group (serious ones) hack major organizations and act as an informer to the public, by making confidential info public. Obviously that can lead to bad things happening but when the public is being kept in the dark about things that affect them then... people benefit...
