Why would anybody self-proclaim to be associated with any group that could even be remotely linked to illegal activity or political dissension? Especially a group colloquially known as a script kiddie haven.
Every time I hear about people getting caught up in stuff like this, I'm reminded of the book "True Names" by Vernor Vinge. As long as nobody knows your real (government) name, you have a degree of safety in cyberspace. But once your identity is known, you become a much bigger target.
For something referred to as cred. This is a mix of social status, proof of skills, and attitude. Gangs use cred as a way to measure the value of their members. A person who brags about doing illegal things is only doing so to elevate his cred. Having street cred is more valuable than money in many circles. Due to how it allows a person to operate within a limited set of rules inside a community. A gang member with a lot of cred can simply do things other members cannot. Such as having first pick at food, housing, vehicles, and money.
I wrote a cpl of twitterbots that basically went full provacateur to test the reaction to them during Arab Spring / OWS and find out who is surveilling what, and how they react. Fascinating results, and it seems no one thought "maybe we're being trolled, lets keep some cards close to our chest". But there's a big difference between looking for exploits by trolling and what this cat did.
LulzSec was nothing more than a few script-kiddies trying to act tough by causing mayhem for no reason other than for the "lulz" if they found the leader, great work. Anyone with access to Government information who abuses that power without a noble cause deserves to be jailed.
The noble cause was the lulz. It was a 1990s style infiltration and defacing spree that didn't take itself super serial like all those moralist Anon hackers who don't realize that back in 2003 Anon was an inside joke.
They were crowd sourcing silly pranks like raining dongs in second life and writing hilarious over the top propaganda about these caveats, which was supposed to be ridiculous in it's menacing, in order to troll the media. Media never got the joke, was trolled along until unfunny fundies picked up the torch and hijacked the movement into petty politics devoid of even the smallest lulz. That's when Lulzsec decided to start up, to bring some 1990s style comedic anarchy but it ended horribly with almost all of them in jail except for SnitchBu.
Unless this Australian is 'Virus' the guy who hung around #pure-elite on their watched IRC server then he isn't lulzsec. You'd have to be a fool to use that name anyways it's a good way to get law enforcement attention
Just because you disagree with their actions it doesn't mean that they were just random script-kiddies. I am not a hacker but it certainly seemed like they had at least a modicum of true skill.
For some reason it seems that most people can't differentiate between the skill and morality of an action.
It's not clear from the article if he used his position to gain access to any of the systems he is accused of illegally using.
Many hackers are employed in positions of responsibility, but have the common sense not to shit where they eat.
wait.. what? Lulzsec died when Sabu turned snitch years ago. Who is this Australian and why is the article confusing the real "Lulzsec" with this random Australian guys antics.
LulzSec attacked Australian government systems in June 2011 [1]. Given that Oz is not exactly a high-profile target, it wouldn't surprise me if one of the members was Ozzie - especially as this guy allegedly had inside access to gov systems.
Unless you were part of Lulzsec, there's no way to know how far reaching they were. The Internet isn't specific to one or two countries after all.
And I'm not really sure if Lulzsec "died" either. There are plenty more able and willing people on IRC. Besides, I doubt any one person is at the helm of this boat to begin with.
It's worth considering that there is some kind of political element to what this group has been doing. Perhaps if there were some viable avenues for young people across the world to meaningfully influence the political process and/or resist massive global corporations treating them as captured consumers they would be more willing and able to adopt alternative means of expression (or entertainment).
There is, but young people are lazy and preoccupied with playing video games. They like to pretend it's because "corporations are in bed with the government, etc, etc" but only because it's easier to rationalize it that way than to admit that the country's policy looks pretty much exactly how you'd expect it to look when all the voters are old people.
The one thing politicians are more about than campaign contributions are votes, and there are no votes in being in favor of open internet, etc. The people in that demographic are too busy considering themselves too good to participate in the system to be a source of votes.
There absolutely a way for people of all ages across the world to meaningfully influence the political process.
They could make a meaningful difference by forming an organization that collected names of interested parties and kept them informed of news and action events. Imagine how powerful a lobbying group you could be if you had hundreds of thousands of people on a mailing list who would be influenced by your recommendation on a vote.
I'm president of a non-profit and we've made meaningful changes in our city by organizing to influence our elected officials.
That's just one example but there are many others that a dedicated group of individuals can influence the system and counter special interest groups beyond their own single vote.
[+] [-] tuxidomasx|13 years ago|reply
Every time I hear about people getting caught up in stuff like this, I'm reminded of the book "True Names" by Vernor Vinge. As long as nobody knows your real (government) name, you have a degree of safety in cyberspace. But once your identity is known, you become a much bigger target.
[+] [-] orangethirty|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hondje|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] eksith|13 years ago|reply
Same reason some criminals brag about their exploits on Facebook... only to be caught the same day.
Pride, status and notoriety.
[+] [-] DigitalSea|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dobbsbob|13 years ago|reply
They were crowd sourcing silly pranks like raining dongs in second life and writing hilarious over the top propaganda about these caveats, which was supposed to be ridiculous in it's menacing, in order to troll the media. Media never got the joke, was trolled along until unfunny fundies picked up the torch and hijacked the movement into petty politics devoid of even the smallest lulz. That's when Lulzsec decided to start up, to bring some 1990s style comedic anarchy but it ended horribly with almost all of them in jail except for SnitchBu.
Unless this Australian is 'Virus' the guy who hung around #pure-elite on their watched IRC server then he isn't lulzsec. You'd have to be a fool to use that name anyways it's a good way to get law enforcement attention
[+] [-] infrec|13 years ago|reply
For some reason it seems that most people can't differentiate between the skill and morality of an action.
[+] [-] WatchDog|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dobbsbob|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nikatwork|13 years ago|reply
I am however skeptical that he's the "leader".
[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-06-17/lulzsec-leaks-australi...
[+] [-] eksith|13 years ago|reply
And I'm not really sure if Lulzsec "died" either. There are plenty more able and willing people on IRC. Besides, I doubt any one person is at the helm of this boat to begin with.
[+] [-] muyuu|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rumcajz|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] will_work4tears|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] ZeroCoin|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] trotsky|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] contingencies|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rayiner|13 years ago|reply
The one thing politicians are more about than campaign contributions are votes, and there are no votes in being in favor of open internet, etc. The people in that demographic are too busy considering themselves too good to participate in the system to be a source of votes.
[+] [-] MichaelApproved|13 years ago|reply
They could make a meaningful difference by forming an organization that collected names of interested parties and kept them informed of news and action events. Imagine how powerful a lobbying group you could be if you had hundreds of thousands of people on a mailing list who would be influenced by your recommendation on a vote.
I'm president of a non-profit and we've made meaningful changes in our city by organizing to influence our elected officials.
That's just one example but there are many others that a dedicated group of individuals can influence the system and counter special interest groups beyond their own single vote.