After almost two months of hacking like mad, LulzSec is apparently disbanding. They declared on their Twitter account that they had dumped a wad of unreleased materials and a goodbye statement on Pastebin. In a rant that might have been composed by cutting up the diaries of 100 college sophomores, they said:
“Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind – we hope – inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love.”
LulzSec hacked, among other targets, the U.S. Senate and the Central Intelligence Agency.
But they’ve also had a few reversals.
A 19-year-old black hat hacker was arrested by British police, who believe he is associated with the group. Someone posted a document to Pastebin that purported to explain the origins of LulzSec and identify the members.
The group, after having a great deal of success hitting high-profile targets, got a commensurate amount of high-profile interest from law enforcement. That, along with an overall hit-and-run strategy may explain their alleged dissolution as well as anything.
As they say in their statement, however, “(W)e are not tied to this identity permanently.” That could indicate a willingness to continue their activities under a different identity or identities. Or, it may be as simple as the difficulties inherent in keeping a less coherent, less ideologically-motivated group together. The Guardian suggested that their hitting game companies made them unpopular in the hacker community, though that doesn’t strike me as a motivating issue even if it were true.
Their last release contained information that seemed to come from the F.B.I., AT&T, AOL and the U.S. Navy.
