The decision by computer hacking group LulzSec on Saturday to fold operations may be helping another online group, Anonymous, which stepped up attacks over the weekend.
Members of LulzSec appear to have rallied around Anonymous with both the group, and some LulzSec members claiming they were now with Anonymous.
Anonymous claimed over the weekend that it has released information from the Web site of the Cyberterrorism Defense Initiative, a national counter-cyberterrorism training program funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security among others.
It also said it had found a “chest of 40 Terabytes internal data” from an undisclosed company, but was not sure how to put up all the data on the web.
Blog Post: Something good out of LulzSec attacks
LulzSec said Saturday it had ended its campaign of cyberassaults on government and corporate Web sites and that it was time for it to “sail into the distance.” It did not give a specific reason for its sudden decision. Its announcement came three days after LulzSec released its latest trove of internal documents, stolen from the Arizona Department of Public Safety computer network, and four days after U.K. police said they had made the first arrest of a man allegedly affiliated with the group.
“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,” the group said in a post on the Pastebin website.
“If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere.”
Anonymous said in a message on Twitter on Sunday that it could confirm that all LulzSec members have reported aboard. A LulzSec member Sabu confirmed on Twitter that its members were now part of Anonymous.
LulzSec and Anonymous came together recently to target government and related agencies in Operation Anti-Security.
There is speculation that the LulzSec, known for its brash comments, had decided to disband after the arrest in the U.K. last week of Ryan Cleary, who is alleged to have been involved with the group. Last Tuesday U.K. police said they had arrested a 19-year-old man who they said was a member of the group. LulzSec said he had operated one of its Internet Relay Chat (IRC) servers but that he was not one of its leaders.
On Saturday, shortly after group’s last missive was posted, a hacker thought to be one of the group’s leaders, Sabu, dismissed a suggestion that LulzSec disbanded because of the arrest or any internal disagreement.
“If you read the statement your questions will be answered,” he wrote in a Twitter message. “There’s only been one arrest; Ryan, and he isn’t part of lulzsec.”
LulzSec may however have been the victim of attacks from rival hackers it has been squabbling with such as Jester and Web Ninja. A person disclosed over the weekend information on LulzSec and some of its alleged members.
LulzSec spent the last several weeks attacking Web sites and computer networks of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the U.S. Senate, the U.K.’s Serious Organised Crime Agency, the Brazilian government and the energy giant Petrobras, among others.
LulzSec conducted its campaign “just because we could,” it said in its statement.
“All to selflessly entertain others — vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy.”
