Chapter 7: 50 Days Of Lulz

After Operation AntiSec, the group released a statement on June 26, essentially telling the world the group was disbanding after 50 days of hacking. The statement, titled “50 days of lulz,” came as quite a surprise. Most security professionals did not expect the group to disband so suddenly.

The announcement was also a surprise because it came on the heels of a successful set of hacks during Operation AntiSec. On the group’s Twitter account, it posted a statement, which included: “... [I]t’s time to say bon voyage. Our planned 50-day cruise has expired. … Lulz Security – our crew of six wishes you a happy 2011.” Just like that, LulzSec’s 50 days of chaos were completed.

The statement revealed a few details about Lulz Security, including that the group consisted of six members. The “50 days of lulz” statement claimed that it would be the final release from the group. The statement appeared to be authentic, because it included many passwords and account names that had been hacked but not previously publicized.

You can see the statement at: www.businessinsider.com/lulzsec-finished-2011-6.

However, less than a month later, the group contradicted the statement. LulzSec claimed responsibility for the attack against the News Corp. newspaper Web sites. The attack included Web sites for British newspapers, The Sun and The Times.

During this highly publicized attack on July 18, LulzSec posted false news articles claiming News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch had died of an overdose of palladium. Lulz Security redirected The Sun Web site to The Times Web site, where the fake articles appeared. Later, The Sun Web site was redirected again, this time to the Twitter feed of the LulzSec group.

The hacked news article and page can be seen at: www.webcitation.org/60HLGySde.

Eventually, News Corp. issued a statement on its Web site concerning the attacks. LulzSec attacked the page with the statement, too, again redirecting that page to the hacker group’s Twitter page. News Corp. responded by taking both Web sites completely offline.

Lulz Security performed the attack against News Corp. to protest the role the corporation had in a phone hacking scandal. The scandal involved some British tabloid newspapers that used phone hacking in an attempt to create and find stories. When the scandal was publicized early in July, a public outcry occurred against Murdoch and News Corp. Both The Sun and The Times are part of the News Corp. conglomerate.

Learn more about the News Corp. phone hacking scandal at: theweek.com/article/index/217378/rupert-murdochs-phone-hacking-scandal-a-timeline.

After the FBI released a statement July 20 saying hacking Web sites was unacceptable, and it would find and prosecute anyone who hacks Web sites, LulzSec reanimated its Twitter site the following day to respond. “Let us tell you want we find unacceptable,” the Twitter post said. LulzSec then listed several issues it was trying to fight through its hacking, including governments lying to citizens and corporations pushing profits with the help of corrupt governments.