Not to self, when arresting somebody, make sure they are who you think they are before you go bragging about it. Just ask the Metropolitan Police, who are housed in the United Kingdom. After claiming they made an arrest of a 19-year old who was apparently part of a DDoS attack, it was hinted that the teen was a member of the infamous hacking group, LulzSec. While the report didn’t mention any group by name, a connection to LulzSec was made.
Now, it’s not certain whether the British police, who were working with the FBI to secure the arrest, intimated the LulzSec the rumor or if some enterprising publication simply assumed the arrested youth was in the LulzSec gang. Seeing the world “group” has that effect, apparently. While either way wouldn’t be surprising, once you read the report, you see word “group” inviting someone to make a connection:
The arrest follows an investigation into network intrusions and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group.
The teenager was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act, and Fraud Act offences and was taken to a central London police station, where he currently remains in custody for questioning.
It makes sense that someone could see the “DDoS” acronym, along with the “the same hacking group” portion and assume the group in question is LulzSec, but then again, without confirmation, you’d think publications would wait before rushing a “LulzSec has been arrested” article out. Of course, I may be guilty of wishful thinking.
Nevertheless, as they are wont to do, LulzSec responded to the arrest reports with their standard zeal and air of defiance:
@LulzSec
The Lulz BoatSeems the glorious leader of LulzSec got arrested, it’s all over now… wait… we’re all still here! Which poor bastard did they take down?
3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Which was followed up by a “it wasn’t us” tweet:
@LulzSec
The Lulz BoatJust saw the pastebin of the UK census hack. That wasn’t us – don’t believe fake LulzSec releases unless we put out a tweet first. 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
That, of course, doesn’t mean the LulzSec group wouldn’t welcome someone hacking the UK government, either:
@LulzSec
The Lulz BoatBut hey, if someone out there hacked the UK government in the name of #AntiSec, well done sirs! 3 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
And so, here we are. The British, with the help of the FBI, arrested a hacker who made use of the DDoS method and said he was in a “group.” This, naturally, leads to LulzSec as the suspected group, seeing how they are the popular hacker group of the moment. A month or two ago, the arrested soul would probably be associated with Anonymous. This, of course, could not go without the appropriate response from LulzSec, as the group clearly revels in its notoriety.
With that in mind, would one arrest bring down LulzSec as it is? The group is undoubtedly adept at hiding in plain sight, and without any direct knowledge of its members, no one would know unless the captured party admitted their allegiance. Whatever the case, one thing’s for sure: to LulzSec, no press is bad press.