Over the past few weeks, Lulzsec has become a common name. It's a group of hackers much in the vein of their better-known cousins Anonymous. Today, Lulzsec struck again: this time they took responsibility for hacking into Arizona Department of Public Safety computers, stealing and then releasing hundreds of files.
The DPS files, posted on LulzSec's website, include personal information about officers and numerous documents ranging from routine alerts from out-of-state police agencies to videos and photos about the hazards of police work and operations of drug gangs. The names of the files are as innocuous as "resume" and "evaluation form" and as provocative as "cartel leader threatens deadly force on U.S. police."
DPS confirmed that documents were legitimate and called the release of information "alarming."
As has become common with Lulzsec, they released the documents along with a press release of sorts. They said they had targeted Arizona's DPS in protest of SB1070, the state's controversial immigration law. The group also said they were against "the racial profiling anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona."
As we reported, on June 19, the group launched a campaign called "antisec," which they defined as an all-out rebellion against all governments.
The website Boing Boing dug through the documents released todayand found everything from bloody pictures taken after a drug raid to Homeland Security bulletins. Among other things, Boing Boing reports on a PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the vulnerabilities of ferries to terrorist attacks and a racial profiling study that concludes, "Even after controlling for other explanatory factors, racial/ethnic disparities exist for warnings, repair orders, citations, arrests and seaches. ... Further analyses of searches and seizures illustrate that hispanic, black and native american drivers were significantly more likely to be searched compared to whites."
Earlier this week, authorities said they arrested a member of Lulzsec in Britain.
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