The Rapid Rise and Fall of LulzSec

This is more of a prediction than a statement of fact but I feel pretty confident in saying that LulzSec won't be around for much longer. Anonymous may still avoid LulzSec's fate depending on whether they decide to abandon the AntiSec movement and stay focused on battling repressive regimes like they did with Tunisia, but they only have a small window of time to make that decision.

The reason why I'm making this prediction is because of today's New York Times article on the take-down of DigitalOne.com by the FBI. That's bad enough but it's not why LulzSec is screwed. They're screwed because the U.S. Intelligence Community has learned how to collaborate. It's taken them years but the historical animosity between CIA, FBI, and NSA has just recently diminished to the point where they are now able to work together better than ever before. And lucky LulzSec, they're all focused on you right now.

Now you might not be too worried about the FBI considering the state of their InfraGuard sites in Atlanta and Connecticut, and you might even be naive enough to believe that crashing the CIA's public website means you have nothing to fear from them either. Frankly speaking, if that's true - you couldn't be more wrong. Unlike the FBI and your local police, CIA isn't constrained by the same rules. It has resources that other agencies salivate after, including its own Army, Navy, and Air Force. It's people love what they do so much that even after they retire they stay in the game. And while Anonymous likes to say that they never forget, the Agency has a well-deserved reputation of getting even with anyone who fucks with them. You, apparently, have made that very unfortunate list. If you guys make it to Labor Day without either getting arrested, disappearing, or self-destructing, I'll be very surprised. Either way, you'll be featured in the new edition of my book for sure.

UPDATE: (25 Jun 2011) LulzSec announces it has ended operations via a post at Pastebin:

  1. Friends around the globe,
  2. We are Lulz Security, and this is our final release, as today marks something meaningful to us. 50 days ago, we set sail with our humble ship on an uneasy and brutal ocean: the Internet. The hate machine, the love machine, the machine powered by many machines. We are all part of it, helping it grow, and helping it grow on us.
  3. For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could. All to selflessly entertain others - vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy. It's what we all crave, even the seemingly lifeless politicians and emotionless, middle-aged self-titled failures. You are not failures. You have not blown away. You can get what you want and you are worth having it, believe in yourself.
  4. While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently. Behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people. People with a preference for music, a preference for food; we have varying taste in clothes and television, we are just like you. Even Hitler and Osama Bin Laden had these unique variations and style, and isn't that interesting to know? The mediocre painter turned supervillain liked cats more than we did.
  5. Again, behind the mask, behind the insanity and mayhem, we truly believe in the AntiSec movement. We believe in it so strongly that we brought it back, much to the dismay of those looking for more anarchic lulz. We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. The support we've gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don't stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve.
  6. So with those last thoughts, it's time to say bon voyage. Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance, leaving behind - we hope - inspiration, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If anything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere. Anywhere.
  7. Thank you for sailing with us. The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon.
  8. Let it flow...
  9. Lulz Security - our crew of six wishes you a happy 2011, and a shout-out to all of our battlefleet members and supporters across the globe

Comments

  1. Sorry, but this is complete rubbish. Your whole argument boils down to
    "you fucked over the CIA buddy, therefore they'll hunt you down."

    A more likely scenario is that they will get caught because of their big mouths. People in the hacker community don't really like that sort of behaviour. And it will be these people that hunt down and expose the members of lulzsec. In fact, quite a few already have been identified.

    Law enforcement is playing catchup, and is probably using the information posted already to track these guys down. (As was the case with Ryan Cleary in the UK)

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  2. Wow, seriously horrible post. Next time you feel like writing, don't. Perhaps it's time to pursue another talent, like Interpretive Dance?

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  3. @twebb70 Indeed. The intelligence agencies are toying with scraps that factions of the hacking community have been dropping about each other. Their leads come from the embittered disputes of hackers whose political aspirations simply do not appear to be aligning very well - which is no surprise when you look at what Lulzsec are doing.

    They are using the feds as ammunition against each other... and what a relevant weapon it's proving to be.

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