Recently computer hacker group Lulz Security, or LulzSec, claimed responsibility for several high profile attacks, including breach of user accounts from Sony Pictures and taking CIA website offline. Now, Yahoo News reports that last Thursday LulzSec released 62,000 e-mail addresses and stolen passwords. But hosting service MediaFire quickly removed the data for violating its terms of service, wrote Yahoo! News.
Making fun of cybersecurity, LulzSec hackers have been conducting these attacks for over a month now. From government agencies to media outlets and other businesses, the hackers have been stealing data and posting them online, according to Yahoo News.
As per the report, members of this group were taking calls on Wednesday. During the calls, LulzSec hackers told its followers to, "pick a target and we will destroy it.” The hackers later claimed 5000 missed calls and 2500 voice mails. Toward the end, the hackers said, “The Lulz Boat must sail off and organize itself. Hope you enjoyed," wrote Yahoo News reporter Adam Dickter.
According to PC magazine, wrote Dickter, the hacked e-mail accounts were from Comcast, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail and Gmail. Meanwhile, Gizmodo set-up a tool to check if your information was made public.
Commenting on these developments, technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group, said, "These folks are trying to make a massive statement that security isn't adequate." He further added, "I think their subtle point is that most (other) thieves would go in, steal the stuff, and no one would know they were there.” “LulzSec's activities suggest these sites aren't as secure as they need to be and can't identify hackers,” asserted Enderle.
How likely is the LulzSec bunch to get caught was the question posed by Dickter to Paul Ducklin, head of technology for the Asia-Pacific office of the cybersecurity firm Sophos in Sydney, Australia. Ducklin’s reply was that "Sadly, the chance of getting away with cybercrookery is fairly high." "Jurisdictional issues alone make it hard to work out who's responsible for investigating, and who's responsible for prosecuting," noted Ducklin.
Ducklin said it's likely that law enforcement in several countries are working together to find LulzSec.
Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.Edited by
Stefanie Mosca