Lulzsec was an organized group of hackers for approximately fifty days. They hacked a number of important, or at the very least high profile organizations. Their stated purpose: “For the lulz”, but was it? If one looks at the list of targets Lulzsec has effectively pursued would anyone honestly be able to say that they had no agenda aside from fun? Their recent list of targets includes, Sony, PBS, the CIA, Arizona state law enforcement, theEscapist, EVE Online, League of Legends, Bethesda software, a number ofpornographic websites, and a host of others.
A cursory glance at that list two stand out, the CIA and Arizona’s law enforcement websites being hacked are clearly not just “for the lulz”. One who has been following news on the internet, rather than just drooling on their keyboards and playing flashgames would be quick to point out that PBS’s website being hacked was in response to a Frontline documentary about Wikileaks. Lulzsec has taken a great deal of responsibility for the PSN and additional Sony hacks, and given how many flaws there were in their security systems, I don’t blame them one bit. It could be considered a public service to point out such glaring holes in one's security. Their attacks on many others have been more annoying than properly offensive (denial of service attacks against the escapist, EVE online, and League of Legends), but they are still certainly frustrating to those who depend on those resources for income.
Many people are referring to Lulzsec and Anonymous as “hacktivists”, so clearly this analysis that Lulzsec isn’t just in it “for the lulz” is a widespread understanding. It appears that despite their tenacious attacks on so many varying targets Lulzsec has officially announced recently that they will be disbanding, whether due to infighting, the international crackdown on hacking activity, or whatever other reasons can be concocted for Lulzsec to walk away from the limelight at the top of their game. Maybe the members of Lulzsec are content to return to Anonymous and return to their much larger group’s plans, or maybe it’s a show of unity, Shortly before Lulzsec announced that they would be dissolved they had begun publically partnering with Anonymous for future attacks, to build up a larger “army” of hackers and others devoted to disruptive or anarchistic activity. I’ve never felt a compulsion to delve into hacking myself, but I can certainly say that some of the things Lulzsec has stood for have been both newsworthy, and have been effective in knocking people off their high and mighty pedestal. My not being able to use any of the nice online features of my PS3 for quite some time notwithstanding, I can say that I generally support the “hacktivist” movement, though not necessarily the backlash that seems to be coming from it. For what it’s worth, I will leave you with both the Lulzsec mission statement, and a link to their final announcement:
“Hello, good day, and how are you? Splendid! We're LulzSec, a small team of lulzy individuals who feel the drabness of the cyber community is a burden on what matters: fun. Considering fun is now restricted to Friday, where we look forward to the weekend, weekend, we have now taken it upon ourselves to spread fun, fun, fun, throughout the entire calender year.”
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