LulzSec Says It’s Ending Cyber Attacks

LulzSec Says It’s Ending Cyber Attacks

Lulz Security, the hacker activist group claiming credit for breaking into websites at Sony Corp. (SNE), the U.S. Senate and the Central Intelligence Agency, said it’s ending a wave of cyber attacks that began almost two months ago.

“Our planned 50 day cruise has expired, and we must now sail into the distance,” the group said in a June 25 posting through its Twitter Inc. account. “This is our final release.”

Hacker activist groups gained attention after Anonymous, made up of hundreds of members in several countries, in December targeted EBay Inc.’s PayPal unit, Visa Inc. (V) and other companies deemed hostile to WikiLeaks, an organization that posts secret documents on the Web. Intruders into Sony’s PlayStation Network stole data on more than 100 million accounts in April, forcing the company to shutter the service for more than five weeks.

The CIA’s public website was taken down on June 15. LulzSec, as the group is known, claimed credit, saying on its website, “We don’t like the U.S. government very much.” A CIA spokesman said at the time the agency was looking into the matter.

LulzSec also took credit for hacking into Nintendo Co.’s computers, an intrusion the Kyoto, Japan-based company disclosed June 5, describing it as unsuccessful. The group also said it had attacked the Atlanta chapter of InfraGard, an information- sharing organization of companies that is affiliated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to thwart cyber crime.
Spanish Arrests

Spanish police arrested three suspected members of Anonymous on June 10. The group hacked the websites of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), Spain’s second-biggest bank, and Enel SpA, the Italian owner of Spanish power company Endesa SA, Spanish police have said.

In the past month, attacks included an attempted hack originating in China into e-mail accounts of U.S. government officials, military personnel and journalists hosted by Google Inc. Military contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT) has also said its network was penetrated by an unknown intruder.

Hackers also broke into the databanks of BP Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and at least three other major energy companies over a two-year period ending this year. They stole data on global oil reserves, according to McAfee Inc. and documentation in leaked e-mails from the cyber-security firm HB Gary Inc.