LulzSec Hackers Bid Farewell as the Law Appears Near (NewsFactor)

The LulzSec hackers responsible for a spree of cybercrimes over the past 50 days abruptly bid farewell to its followers worldwide on Monday. The surprise announcement came just four days after the underground group unleashed a trove of confidential law-enforcement documents swiped from the web site of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.

Some industry observers viewed the group's decision to retire as a sign that law-enforcement officials are getting uncomfortably close to identifying the creators of the hacker group and its distinctive dragon-headed Lulz Boat logo.

"While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently," LulzSec said. "We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us."

More Than Merry Pranksters

Though the hackers initially assumed the persona of merry pranksters, last week's LulzSec release was stridently political and was even prefaced by an image of an assault rifle bearing the motto "Off the pigs." It invited hackers around the globe to take "direct action against our common oppressors -- the government, corporations, police and militaries of the world," and promised weekly releases.

Not all the underground group's members may have been comfortable with the more strident tone of last Thursday's LulzSec communique. Still, Monday's farewell was accompanied by yet another data dump that included proprietary information about AT&T's network development plans, among other things.

If the group's farewell message can "be taken at face value, some organizations around the world may be breathing a deep sigh of relief that they are no longer at risk of being the focus of the group's unwanted attention," noted Sophos Senior Technology Consultant Graham Cluley in a blog. On the other hand, "just because one of the most notorious hacking gangs may have gone into retirement does not mean you no longer need to be more vigilant."

A New Business/IT Paradigm

Some organizations will always be a target -- governments, banks and NGOs like the IMF, noted Forrester Research Vice President Jonathan Penn. "But other organizations step into the line of fire: Anonymous attacked PayPal, MasterCard and others because of their actions against WikiLeaks and Assange, while Sony's legal actions against George Hotz -- for jailbreaking the PS3 -- led to the spate of LulzSec attacks against it," Penn noted.

LulzSec's hacking spree is reason enough for IT departments to consider rebuilding the bridge between IT security and the decision-makers in their organizations from both directions, Penn wrote in a blog. "Just as security decisions have a business impact, we are now seeing business decisions have a security impact," he wrote.

Penn advises organizations to establish processes whereby executives and business managers co-evaluate the security ramifications of business decisions that may be viewed from the outside as having undesirable social or political consequences. Organizations also need to "coordinate new IT security measures or heightened states of readiness as business groups carry out those decisions," Penn wrote. "This, in effect, turns incident-management processes upside down."

Cluley also warned IT departments that LulzSec is just one among a number of hacker groups dedicated to wreaking havoc on exposed corporations and government agencies. Indeed, LulzSec's farewell message includes a plea for other hacker groups such as Anonymous not to cease their efforts. "Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve," LulzSec wrote.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20110627/tc_nf/79130

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