The folks in Anonymous, the amorphous group of hackers, must be steaming right now. While Anonymous arguably has justifiable reasons for its hacking, Anonymous probably feels that another group of hackers is making a mockery of hackers everywhere. The self-proclaimed hacker group LulzSec will seemingly target any site at all, stealing user data and going so far as to set up a hotline to take hacking requests. Gizmodo has made it possible for you to check to see if your email has been hacked.
What have the LulzSec guys accomplished? They’ve shown that websites can be hacked pretty easily. Unfortunately the collateral damage has been thousands of innocent users, as these guys have released large amounts of user data. If you want to see if you’ve been hacked, head on over to the page that Gizmodo set up, that will run a check on a database of released email addresses. This isn’t foolproof, of course, since LulzSec probably has more addresses and passwords, and could release them at a later date.
What’s your take on LulzSec? Are they performing a public good by showing us that no site may be safe? If you’re a hacker yourself, do you feel that they’re making you look bad? We’d love to hear from you.
david says:
Lulzsec (what an idiot name) are nothing more than a bunch of low life criminals and they have absolutely no clue as to the damage they are doing. Not only by releasing innocent peoples details which is nothing more of an annoyance to some but by hacking the FBI, CIA, the National Health Service (NHS) here in the UK, Sony and lots of gaming sites, all they are doing is attracting the eyes of those who seek to control the internet.
Its only a matter of time before someone in the UK,EU or USA government decides to try pass some draconian bill or rights that will further strip the neutrality from the internet.
And I ask, where will these idiots get their LULZ (sic) from then?
Pro tip: do something with your skills that helps people like removing Jihadist websites and hate websites like that “ethical” hacker th3j35t3r(Hacktivist for good. Obstructing the lines of communication for terrorists, sympathizers, fixers, facilitators, oppressive regimes and other general bad guys.)
Lulz are idiots period and deserve absolutely no mention. Roll on the day they’re caught.
June 20, 2011 — 4:47 am
Evan Kline says:
I would be curious to know the age of the majority of those guys. Their actions do suggest a more juvenile mindset.
June 21, 2011 — 7:11 am
Gene says:
“Are they performing a public good by showing us that no site may be safe? If you’re a hacker yourself, do you feel that they’re making you look bad?”
Are you kidding me? Why even ask that question? It’s the same as asking if a mugger is performing a public good by increasing awareness that you could get your ass kicked if you walk down the street at any given moment. Then he could say “Take that stupid pedestrians! You should have known! You’re welcome!”
When did hooliganism get spun into serving your community? C’mon 40Tech. If you’re 40, you should know better by now.
June 20, 2011 — 10:38 pm
Evan Kline says:
Well, it was a rhetorical question, but very good points, Gene. I think they could have shown that sites aren’t safe by doing the hacking, without any releasing of info. Given the malicious nature they’ve shown so far, though, I think it would be expecting too much to trust them to keep the stuff private.
June 21, 2011 — 7:13 am
dave says:
Evan, your answer is here. Hopefully they will throw the book at him, extradite him to the US for hacking the FBI/CIA website so he can feel real justice US style compared to our laughable system here.
I have no doubt he will sing like a bird too, LuLz days are all but over!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13859868
June 21, 2011 — 1:34 pm
Evan Kline says:
Thanks for the update, Dave. I hadn’t heard the news yet. To the extent that these guys corresponded online, I’d be worried if I were the rest of them, that’s for sure.
June 21, 2011 — 3:37 pm
Tony says:
I’m kinda hoping that Lulzsec decides to hack Gizmodo a couple of times.
June 22, 2011 — 3:46 pm
Evan Kline says:
That would be interesting. Of course, with the arrest of the IRC guy, and some evidence of a couple more of them running scared, things are going to get interesting.
June 22, 2011 — 9:37 pm
Amit says:
Looks like i’m safe for now, but the truth is i always go for impossible to break passwords – like 30 chars including specials – and i almost never use the same pass for two websites. Having a notebook to write them down helps.
August 8, 2011 — 11:58 pm
Nick Dentin says:
If Anonymous or Lulz can take down Gizmodo I will pay them $100,000.00. They can’t do it. They are children playing in an adult fortress. Gizmodo is more protected than any soyte you will find anywhere!!!!! Screw U hack-child.
September 25, 2011 — 3:15 pm