LulzSec, just days after announcing a collaboration with the hacker collective Anonymous that would specifically target official government sites and agencies, has released what it's calling the first of many info dumps related to Operation Anti-Security: Chinga la Migra Bulletin #1.
The file contains names, training manuals, email addresses and other "for official use only" material related to Arizona law enforcement - all reportedly authentic, said the AZ DPS (Department of Public Safety).
The particular group was singled out ostensibly for its state's history with racial profiling and anti-immigration efforts, according to a statement made by LulzSec.
"We are releasing hundreds of private intelligence bulletins, training manuals, personal email correspondence, names, phone numbers, addresses and passwords belonging to Arizona law enforcement," read the release at LulzSec's official site. "We are targeting AZDPS specifically because we are against SB1070 and the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona."
SB1070 (.PDF) is the controversial Arizona anti-illegal immigration bill signed into law last year.
The new direction for LulzSec, who had in the past mainly targeted public companies "for the lulz," essentially means there are now two bands of hackers in the wild that are more than willing to cyber attack governmental bodies over perceived injustices. The combined effort also lends support to Anonymous, which has hit a rough patch the last few months.
Authorities in Spain and Turkey arrested 35 suspected members of the Anonymous group this month, and in January UK police picked up five alleged members - three of which were teenagers. The collective was also hit with an online coup in May, which saw some official Anonymous sites taken over by a splinter group within the ranks.
Now that LulzSec has seemingly supplanted Anonymous as a news fixture, it's branching out. An outfit calling itself "LulzSecBrazil" (it's not clear if this is just former members under a different banner or new recruits adopting the name) disrupted two Brazilian government websites this week. A "LulzSecCali" has also popped up on Twitter.
The team is poised for more attacks, stating it will leak "classified documents and embarassing [SIC] personal details of military and law enforcement" every week to "reveal their racist and corrupt nature but to purposefully sabotage their efforts to terrorize communities fighting an unjust 'war on drugs.'"
LulzSec, however, faces the constant, looming threat of being discovered.
It's an undeniable fact that the more people you piss off, the bigger the target on your back. That mantra is only multiplied thanks to the group's anonymity. One hacker, known as "The Jester," seems intent on dragging the group out from behind their computer screens.
The Guardian reported that "The Jester" - who's said to be ex-military - published what he says is the personal information of the purported LulzSec leader, "Sabu." If said details are true, muses the site, it could be "game over" for the hackers.
In the meantime, it's "game on."
