{"id":894,"date":"2011-06-29T08:01:21","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T12:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www3.law.harvard.edu\/journals\/hlpr\/?p=894"},"modified":"2015-10-02T15:52:50","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T15:52:50","slug":"tango-down-lulz-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/lpr\/2011\/06\/29\/tango-down-lulz-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Tango Down: Lulz Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"color: #505050\">\n<p style=\"color: #505050\"><em>Jake Laperruque<span style=\"font-weight: bold\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">This Sunday, the newest star of hacktivism \u2013 Lulz Security \u2013\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-06-27\/hacker-group-lulz-security-says-it-s-ending-cyber-attack-wave.html\">announced it would be going into early retirement<\/a>, and would immediately end its hacking ways.\u00a0 Although less established than other hacking groups such as\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/AnonymousIRC\">Anonymous<\/a>\u00a0(LulzSec hasn\u2019t even been hacking for two months), the online organization has already become a world phenomenon through their news grabbing antics, which include hacks of:\u00a0<span id=\"more-5617\" style=\"font-style: inherit\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul style=\"color: #505050\">\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">The CIA (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/gizmodo.com\/5812380\/lulzsec-hackers-take-down-the-cia\">Hacked and shut down the public site<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">The US Senate (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/slatest.slate.com\/posts\/2011\/06\/14\/lulz_security_hacker_group_targets_u_s_senate_website_.html\">Hacked the public site and took internal files<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">Sony (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2011\/06\/02\/technology\/sony_lulz_hack\/?section=money_latest\">Hacked into secure network, stole tens of thousands of users\u2019 data, and publicly released the information online<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">Black &amp; Berg Cybersecurity (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/www.geekosystem.com\/lulzsec-black-berg-hack\/\">Hacked the cybersecurity firm who had challenged hackers to change its website homepage, and changed its website homepage<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">Pron.com (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/www.tgdaily.com\/security-features\/56593-pron-gets-pwned-by-lulz-security\">Hacked the porn site, stole tens of thousands of users\u2019 emails and login passwords, and publicly released the information online<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">PBS (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/articles.cnn.com\/2011-05-30\/tech\/pbs.hackers_1_pbs-tupac-shakur-tupac-story?_s=PM:TECH\">Hacked and posted a fake story declaring Tupac was alive in New Zealand<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit\">Arizona Law Enforcement (<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #000000\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/techland.time.com\/2011\/06\/23\/lulzsec-claims-breach-against-arizona-law-enforcement\/\">Hacked in and released hundreds of internal documents in an operation entitled \u201cChinga la Migra,\u201d aka \u201cFuck the Border Control\u201d<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">Lulz Security made a joke of these and many other hacks it was conducting through releases on\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/lulzsecurity.com\/\">its webpage<\/a>\u00a0(which includes a catchy song) and announcements on\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/LulzSec\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">So why call it quits?\u00a0 LulzSec was quickly on the rise to become one of the world\u2019s most prominent hacktivist groups, and their name (\u201cLulz\u201d means laughs, for you non-Millennials out there) and posts imply that they were enjoying the ride.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">One theory I\u2019d like believe is that this group\u2019s goal wasn\u2019t havoc and destruction, but rather\u00a0<em>improving<\/em>cybersecurity.\u00a0 In many of its attacks, LulzSec actually encouraged its victims to enhance their security.\u00a0 Take, for instance, their eloquent statement after hacking the U.S. Senate:<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\"><em>\u201cWe don\u2019t like the US government very much. Their boats are weak, their lulz are low,and their sites aren\u2019t very secure. In an attempt to help them fix their issues, we\u2019ve decided to donate additional lulz in the form of owning them some more!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">Unlike the hacking scandal that\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/www.gizmag.com\/playstation-network-hacked\/18501\/\">rocked Sony several months ago<\/a>, LulzSec only grabbed email addresses and names \u2013 info publicly available on sites like Facebook \u2013 rather than credit card information.\u00a0 And while attacks on the CIA and U.S. Senate seem threatening, these hacks against the public websites brought renewed attention to the issue of cybersecurity without any sensitive data being compromised.\u00a0 When Black &amp; Berg offered to make good on its $10,000 reward to anyone who could hack their site Lulz Security simply responded \u201cKeep your money. We do it for the Lulz.\u201d\u00a0 Is it possible these hackers are genuinely interested in a safer and more secure cyberspace?<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">It\u2019s a nice idea, but the more popular theory on why LulzSec called it quits is self-preservation.\u00a0 Recently arrests have been made against suspected LulzSec members in\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/businesscenter\/article\/230821\/uk_police_arrest_teen_from_lulz_security_for_ddos_attack.html\">the UK<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/www.wired.com\/threatlevel\/2011\/06\/lulzraid\/\">Iowa<\/a>, prompting speculation that the group was\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit;color: #3f6dcf\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110716005015\/http:\/\/blogs.ft.com\/fttechhub\/2011\/06\/lulz-security-calls-it-quits-as-heat-grows\/#axzz1QcEcReIF\">disbanding out of fear of being caught<\/a>.\u00a0 While this is slightly less romantic than the hacking-to-end-hacking concept, there is still something we can learn from it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #505050\">As anyone who has ever read the comments section on a online news story knows, people treat their online activities less seriously than what they do in person.\u00a0 This misconception that reality ends in cyberspace is something we need to move past; the online world is just as much a part of the world as anything else, and contains many of the same consequences.\u00a0 I highly doubt members of LulzSec would find it smart to personally break into CIA Headquarters or the U.S. Capitol Building, but that is essentially what they are doing.\u00a0 Hacktivism may seem safe, rebellious, and even idealistic from the security of a laptop, but in the end, it\u2019s still a crime.\u00a0 And that is no laughing matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jake Laperruque\u00a0 This Sunday, the newest star of hacktivism \u2013 Lulz Security \u2013\u00a0announced it would be going into early retirement, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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