Hacking has been around almost as long as the internet has been. Like other destructive acts, hacking can do potentially major damage against people and corporations. Hundreds of different hacks occur every day, with the results leading to the theft of hundreds if not thousands of different users' credit card and financial information. Now, with the internet growing larger by the day, and our world shifting from an analog one to a digital world, the internet has become an even more dangerous place.
LulzSec Website
Surfacing in May 2011, a hacker group named Lulz Security has begun delivering some very high profile attacks against major corporations. Their largest attack was on Sony, stealing (allegedly) 1 million different users' information from their Playstation Network, and shutting the entire network down for over a month. Only recently has the network come up, being brought back up just before the E3 conference a couple weeks ago.
After the Sony attack, LulzSec has moved on from Sony and started focusing their efforts on other targets. Moving from Bethesda Entertainment, to PBS and Fox networks, and then going to a multitude of other gaming servers and finally onto different governments. Recently they attacked the British government's organized crime division, the CIA, FBI, as well as a couple Chinese and Brazilian Government websites.
On the same website, Lulzsec released a manifesto in accordance with their 1000th tweet on their twitter account, twitter.com/lulzsec. This manifesto outlined why they are doing what they are doing. Saying that they will continue to hack and take things offline until they are caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Asking if we honestly feel safe that they release something, when other hackers are potentially squatting on the same information. But that does not change the fact that they attacked Sony for their action against George 'Geohotz' Hotz, attacked PBS for their documentary about Wikileaks, attacked Fox for their story against the rapper/actor, 'Common'. Lulzsec does have a political agenda, and has shown it time and time again. To say that they're doing to for entertainment is naive and nothing more than a smokescreen from the truth.
Lulz Security Manifesto
The fact that this group, no matter how loosely affiliated to each other they are, has taken action against multiple countries, denying service to their websites, is an act of cyber-warfare. If people want to send a message to a country or a company, there are very legal, ethical ways to do it. To attack the government of any country in any way is an act of warfare, and this group has decided to go down a very dangerous road that could lead not only to their imprisonment, but potentially their own deaths.
Admittedly, however, they are right on one thing. To quote their manifesto:
"Do you think every hacker announces everything they've hacked? We certainly haven't, and we're damn sure others are playing the silent game. Do you feel safe with your Facebook accounts, your Google Mail accounts, your Skype accounts? What makes you think a hacker isn't silently sitting inside all of these right now, sniping out individual people, or perhaps selling them off? You are a peon to these people. A toy. A string of characters with a value.
This is what you should be fearful of, not us releasing things publicly, but the fact that someone hasn't released something publicly. We're sitting on 200,000 Brink users right now that we never gave out. It might make you feel safe knowing we told you, so that Brink users may change their passwords. What if we hadn't told you? No one would be aware of this theft, and we'd have a fresh 200,000 peons to abuse, completely unaware of a breach."
The thing is, people weren't safe before, and aren't any less safe now, but this group has made it their mission to potentially destroy hundreds of thousands if not millions of people identities and lives for their own amusement. While it isn't the first time, nor will it be the last time that hackers have banded together for a common goal, massive attacks by Lulzsec have already happened, and more will happen over the coming months, potentially years, if something isn't done soon.
The worst part potentially comes from the hands of laws and governments just like the United States government. How easy is it to defend a case for a cause like Net Neutrality when hackers conspire and attack our government? How easy would it be for them to suddenly ask for the reins and try to take full control of the United States network? How would it feel to suddenly have the world of the internet go from a completely free state, to one where a global government institutes laws, controls and restrictions on it. That's where we are headed if these attacks do not stop, if people don't begin to sit down and realize that their actions are destroying the online community at large.
As it is now, people see the Internet as the wild west of the 21st century. An infinite playground of information and data, able to be picked up and used in a second. However, it is not. People are subject to their local and federal laws. When you cross a border, whether in person or digitally, your laws change, you are now subject to more than just your local laws, or your federal laws, but the laws of a land you may not understand.
Now, as I write this, I already have the idea that Lulzsec is going to attempt to attack my livelihood, if they haven't already through some of the places they have already hacked. Every person who has spoken out against them or been arrested in connection with them has had their credibility attacked and defamed. My guess is that while I am a little fish in a very large pond, they possibly may come after my information. But to that I say bring it on. For I know that their time will come, and whatever is done to me can be reversed and corrected. But I will not live in fear of some hacker attacking my social structure online, because I know that maybe it is their hacks on me that could be detected and bring them to justice.
I will do my level best to help our government bring these hackers down. As should everyone who finds out their information and identities have been stolen. Make sure that you go through the motions, follow every angle possible if you suspect a breach, you may just be able to stop more people from suffering the same fate.
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