Troubled waters
News International websites have suffered a large-scale attack by LulzSec - apparently not in retirement after all - resulting in a number of websites being taken down last night - some of which still aren't back up.
In an apparent act of protest against Rupert Murdoch and his publications, LulzSec redirected the Sun homepage to a fake story posted on the New Times website reporting News International owner as dead. Other hackers have posted phone numbers of Sun employees, including Online Editor Pete Picton, as well as an email address and password apparently belonging to Rebekah Brooks.
Whether the hackers are aware of the irony in breaking into News International servers to protest against employees of the corporation, or simply enjoy the slight hypocrisy, is impossible to know. Although the illicit actions of some News International staff could well have been considered provocation enough for hackers to launch an attack on its websites, it's unlikely that attacks on its websites will have any affect on the company, apart from frustrating its systems administrators.
The Sun websites appear to be up and running again now, so the servers are seemingly secure again. However, the New Times website is currently inaccessible, and a statement regarding the Sun website has seemingly been deleted from the News International UK site, which looks otherwise unaffected.
Given the level of outrage that Murdoch's empire has incited with the phone hacking scandal, it's unlikely that these will be the last attacks - Sony will certainty testify to the persistence of groups such as LulzSec and Anonymous. Unlikely, however, is any major backlash against the hackers - even if their activity is arguably little better than that which they are protesting against.
Having said that, it also looks like the hackers got hold of a bunch of archived emails, which they've said they'll release. Meanwhile it looks like the FBI has raided the homes of some suspected Anonymous hackers.
