Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Lulz Security's ethos is inspired by internet meme culture, as evidenced by the groups's 4chan-style logo.
Cyber Security

US Senate website taken out by 'Lulz' hackers

A security review is ordered after the Senate’s website is compromised by the loosely-aligned Lulz Security group.

US SENATE OFFICIALS have ordered a review of computer security operations after it emerged that its website had been compromised by hackers from the Lulz Security movement.

The attack on senate.gov apparently took place over the weekend, and was confirmed by a Senate spokeswoman yesterday who insisted that no individual account information could have been compromised.

The Lulz Security team (more commonly going by ‘LulzSec’) has posted some of the details it apparently gained access to on its website, though none of the information posted appeared to be in any way sensitive.

In a brief prologue to its posting, the team said it had posted the information “just for kicks”.

Politico quoted the Senate’s deputy sergeant-in-arms as saying the attack had borne little impact, with most of the data accessed being stored in front of a firewall and was therefore already intended for public consumption.

The intrusion was described as “inconvenient”.

The New York Times reports that LulzSec had previously claimed responsibility for attacks on websites belonging to the FBI, the American public service broadcaster PBS, and the website of Sony Pictures.

The group also claims to be behind the repeated attacks on the Sony PlayStation Network system.

The Guardian listed the IMF, Lockheed Martin, Google and Citigroup as other victims of the group’s attacks.

The team’s name is derived from the online acronym LOL (laugh out loud), modified to indicate a prank.

Your Voice
Readers Comments
1
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.