LulzSec Shrugs After Scotland Yard Nabs Hacking Suspect (Updated)
The arrest of an alleged hacker in the U.K. by Scotland Yard has led to some fevered speculation that the first true arrest in the case of the LulzSec gang may have just occurred. However, the group itself denied, via its Twitter feed, that any of its members have been arrested.
The arrest of a 19-year-old came in the wake of word that the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics is looking into the possibility that some data from the 2011 Census may have been stolen. There was a claim on Pastebin by someone claiming to be part of LulzSec that they had conducted just such an attack. On its Twitter feed, LulzSec denied any role in attacking the U.K. Census, but it expressed support.
LulzSec, of course, is the group that claims to have hacked several Sony Web sites, as well as a Nintendo site, then the gaming servers of a couple of companies. It has also attacked the Web site of the CIA and of private affiliates of the FBI. As recently as yesterday it claimed to have carried out a denial-of-service attack against a British police agency.
Scotland Yard isn’t yet saying much about the arrest, but did say in a statement that it was in connection with computer attacks carried out against several companies, including denial of service attacks that LulzSec has been openly bragging about for days. It also said it is cooperating with the FBI.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a source familiar with the matter saying that the person arrested “may be a member of LulzSec,” but that can be difficult to pin down in these situations. The person could be merely a sympathizer emulating LulzSec’s methods but without taking the same care to avoid detection. Or it may be a person operating on the fringes of the group in some way.
For what it’s worth, there was yet another claim by the group Web Ninjas, a rival faction that says it wants to expose LulzSec members, that the person arrested goes by the name Ryan and that his is just the first arrest of several that are coming. “Well bad news for LulzSec, count your days as we count your heads, How about this for LULZ?” they wrote. The Web Ninjas go on to describe “Ryan” as the administrator of the IRC chat server supposedly used by LulzSec. But as I said yesterday, it’s difficult to sort out all these claims and counterclaims. We have, of course, seen similar claims before.
Meanwhile, if LulzSec is worried, it isn’t showing any evidence of it. It’s promising to publish more data it has been given.
Update: LulzSec is now confirming at least some of the Web Ninja account. In a series of Twitter updates starting about an hour ago, the group said that the person initially identified as Ryan “is not a member of LulzSec,” though the group does acknowledge a connection. See the tweets below, one of which links to a Sky News report that I’ve embedded further down.
PREVIOUSLY:
- LulzSec And Anonymous Team Up to Hack Governments and Banks
- Viral Video: LulzSec Gets Taiwanesed
- CIA Web Site Goes Down; LulzSec Takes Credit
- LulzSec Blasts Space Game Eve Online, Other Gaming Sites
- LulzSec Strikes Again, Hits Bethesda Softworks And U.S. Senate
- Turkey Arrests 32 Alleged Members of Anonymous, Days After Arrests in Spain
- Web Security Start-Up Cloudflare Gets Buzz, Courtesy of LulzSec Hackers
- No Hacks to Report at Xbox, But Microsoft Isn’t Letting Its Guard Down
- No LulzSec Hackers Have Been Arrested–At Least Not Yet
- LulzSec Posts More Sony Data, Amid Claim One of Them Is Arrested
LulzSec Strikes Again, Claims Attack On Nintendo Server
Sony Hacked for What Seems To Be the Umpteenth Time - Sony’s Playstation Network Is Back. Sony’s Reputation Will Take a Little Longer.
- Exclusive: Sony Considers Offering Reward to Help Catch Hackers
- Anonymous Claims It Took No Credit Card Numbers From Sony
- Sony Implicates Anonymous in Attack; Group Denies Involvement
- Sony Apologizes For the Playstation Network Breach
- Sony Blames PlayStation Outage on “External Intrusion”