Was It Just For the ‘LULZ?
Anonymous was also notorious for its affiliation (although not formal) with ‘LulzSec’- this was a black hat computer hacking group that claimed responsibility for several high-profile attacks, including the compromise of user accounts from Sony Pictures in 2011 (Coleman, 2014). The group also claimed responsibility for taking the CIA website offline so they were certainly not short on ambition.
In the book Coleman described LulzSec and detailed some of there attacks; they invariably were a crew of renegade hackers who broke away from Anonymous —they engaged in a startling 50-day catalytic run that began in early May 2011 and abruptly
ended in mid-June, soon after one of their own, Sabu, was apprehended and flipped in less than 24 hours by the FBI (p.237).
Coleman (2014) also recited that “Among LulzSec’s targets were Sony Music Japan, Sony Pictures, Sony BMG (Netherlands and Belgium), PBS, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Senate, the U.K. Serious Organized Crime Agency, Bethesda Softworks, AOL, and AT&T. Despite the avalanche of activity — and numerous intrusions” (p.237). LulzSec, when compared with Anonymous, were evidently more manageable and contained, at least from an organizational perspective.
However I believe its hard to definitely pin down how unified these hacker groups are, its part of what adds to their mystique — thriving off the element of the unknown. Our incognizance is what fuels them, they generally try to depict themselves as ‘for the people’ but I believe there was something quite power hungry and condescending about them — which is why as an entity they have always divided opinion. The arguments always there… are they doing it for the great of good or are they just doing it cause they can (doing it for the “lulz”)?
Moreover as it attains to the alliance of LulzSec and Anonymous, one of the more vivid examples was the Operation Anti-Security (AntiSec) attacks that ran from June 20–25 2011, involving attacks on government targets (Schurman, 2012). But as aforementioned LulzSec had an air of arrogance and satire to their attacks, almost like enjoyment where they even taunted victims as parts of their attacks. Schurman (2012) illustrated how LulzSec posted through twitter saying “We release personal data so that equally evil people can entertain us with what they do with it… you find it funny to watch havoc unfold, and we find it funny to cause it.” You don’t get much more sneering than that, gives you a pretty big inclination of what the make up of these hacker groups were. It seemed as though, although these groups often had a political agenda they still seemed to be primarily motivated by mischief and evasion.
Antagonizing whoever it could , ‘simply for the lulz’… part vindictive, part revolutionary. From compromising the NHS, the Senate and getting the Taiwan News Treatment to attacking Japanese electronics giant Sony it’s hard to argue the more attention they got the more they thrived (Brian, 2011). In a sense, in a world that can often be too serious and too earnest — I think there is a place for humour… no matter how dark, no matter how parodic and no matter how mordant it is. If there is one thing that intrigues people universally, its controversy… and that’s exactly what they generated.
References:
Brian, M. (2020). 50 days of Lulz: The life and times of LulzSec. [online] The Next Web. Available at: https://thenextweb.com/media/2011/06/26/50-days-of-lulz-the-life-and-times-of-lulzsec/ [Accessed 6 Jan. 2020].
Coleman, G. (2014) Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistle-Blower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. Verso.
KnowYourMeme (2020). [image] Available at: https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/305/995/78c.jpg [Accessed 2 Jan. 2020].
Schurman, K. (2012). LulzSec: How A Handful Of Hackers Brought The US Government To Its Knees: 50 Days of Lulz. Hyperink Inc.
References:
ABC News (2019). [image] Available at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiI7sK85N3mAhWr4YUKHQ2xCscQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2013-04-24%2Fthe-logo-of-lulz-security%2F4648248&psig=AOvVaw2Fo8FfmeNe53U0IAzuaSC1&ust=1577809370516107 [Accessed 30 Dec. 2019].
