LulzSec hackers - just having a laugh?
At first glance it appeared that the Web site of the LulzSec hacker group had been seized by the feds. But it turned out to be just another prank, the latest in a series of "lulz" that hackers do when they are not taunting Sony, FBI partners, and others.
Despite the official looking Justice and Homeland Security department symbols and notice saying "this domain name has been seized by ICE (Immigrations and Customs Enforcement) - Homeland Security Investigations," the page was a hoax. A search of Whois showed that the domain "www.lulzsecurity.org" was registered early today. In addition, the site the hacking group has been using to promote its activities--www.lulzsecurity.com--remained up.
"ICE has not taken any enforcement action against this site," a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said in an e-mail to CNET. "The site owner/administration redirected www.lulzsecurity.org to our name server, where the seizure banner is hosted."
It's unclear who was behind the hoax--LulzSec members themselves or supporters trying to fool people, or others wanting to make the group look bad. Either way, the prank represents the spirit of lulz, which is a derivation of the acronym for Laugh Out Loud (LOL). The group's actions are seen by some security experts as a revival of old-school hacking that was motivated out of a sense of fun rather than profit.
