LulzSec Hackers Make Enemies Online - New York Times (blog)

Lulz Security, the hacking group that has been on a spree lately, might think its antics are hilarious. But some others in the hacker world are sick of its games.

After six weeks of attacks — and hundreds of sarcastic Twitter posts — a number of people, offended by the exposure of innocent Internet users' personal information and irritated by the bravado, are working to stop LulzSec by investigating and revealing its members' identities to the world, and especially to the F.B.I.

On Friday, The Guardian reported that a disaffected former associate known only as m_nerva had leaked logs of conversations that LulzSec's members had among themselves in online chat rooms.

The logs cover a period from May 31 to June 4, which covers the LulzSec hacks on Sony and P.B.S. Under the apparent leadership of one of the hackers, known only as Sabu, between six and eight group members discuss media coverage of their deeds and rail against a rival hacker, called The Jester, who has been publishing what he says are leaks about LulzSec on his Web site. The Jester is known as a defender of the United States military and an opponent of WikiLeaks and radical Muslim groups, which he has hit with crippling amounts of traffic in what are known as denial-of-service attacks.

After LulzSec hacked a company affiliated with the F.B.I. on June 3, the logs reveal that two members quit, fearing reprisals from the authorities. The two were "not up for the heat", Sabu typed. He added: "You realise we smacked the FBI today. This means everyone in here must remain extremely secure."

In a Twitter post directed toward m_nerva on Tuesday, LulzSec promised reprisals for the leak of the logs. "Remember this tweet," it said, "for I know you'll read it: your cold jail cell will be haunted with our endless laughter. Game over, child."

But it seems that another group, calling itself Web Ninjas, has been revealing personal tidbits and photos of what it says are LulzSec members on its blog, LulzSec Exposed. It has also posted a chat transcript which seems to be the same one obtained by The Guardian.

"Web ninjas decided to give them a taste of their own LULZ and we have shown them that they are not the 'Internet Gods' they think they are. 'Web Ninjas' does and will stop Lulzsec," it wrote. "We are here to stand for HACK VICTIMS."

And a group called Backtrace Security says it has been hunting the people behind LulzSec since February. Citing the dangers of its continuing tussle with LulzSec, Backtrace declined to disclose its principals' identities. But one who uses the handle Asherah said he and his colleagues published the LulzSec members' nicknames and, in some cases, real names online in February, and have been assisting the F.B.I. since March. As LulzSec's hacking activity — and Twitter publicity machine — heated up, they moved on June 7 to publicize the names on Twitter, apparently setting off a kind of hacker civil war.

"They were rampaging, and clearly not willing to stop," Asherah said. "Despite the rumors, they're not very accomplished hackers. They're attention-drunk."

LulzSec claims to hack for the "lulz," or fun of it, unlike their more political cousins Anonymous, a nebulous and large movement. "That doesn't mean politics don't enter, that means it enters when it's lulzy, when it's hilarious," said Gabriella Coleman, an assistant professor at New York University who studies Anonymous. "The lulz matters in Anonymous, but the political wings are really political, and they have to keep the lulz tamed." Though separate, several days ago the two entities declared a joint cyberwar against governments and security companies called Operation Anti-Security.

But it is not clear whether LulzSec can fight wars on multiple online fronts and continue to strike such visible targets while others try to bring it down.