Fads are funny.
Of course, we all know they come and go (just like the patrons of a whore house). No one knows what will become a fad — it just happens.
While bell-bottom jeans are fortunately not around, frozen yogurt companies are popping up on every corner like Starbucks and filling strip malls around Baton Rouge.
Other current fads include trivia at local bars, 3-D movies and fancy miniature cupcakes.
The current Internet fad is a bit more sinister.
Hacking.
Every time I go online, I read about how another big company’s website has been hacked, eventually either crashing or having valuable information stolen.
The hacking craze started with Sony — which I’ve already covered, so I won’t beat that horse anymore.
Most Internet attacks come from a group of hackers aptly named “Anonymous.”
Many blamed Anonymous for the initial Sony hack.
But when follow-up attackers hit Sony, a new group emerged claiming more than 1 million user accounts — “LulzSec.”
Derived from “LOL” and “Sec,” an abbreviation of “security,” LulzSec has been tearing down security and laughing while doing it.
The group uses the motto “Laughing at your security since 2011!”
LulzSec’s first attack was against Fox’s website in May.
The group claimed responsibility for leaking a database of contestants’ personal information for the upcoming show “The X Factor” and leaking personal information such as employee passwords, as well as altering employees’ LinkedIn profiles.
The group has gone on to successfully hack video game sites and servers as well as larger targets such as the CIA and FBI.
The funny thing is, LulzSec does not appear to be hacking for a personal gain — they’re just doing it “for the lulz.”
Last week, the group put up a hotline for people to call and request websites for LulzSec to DDoS — Distributed Denial of Service — a direct attack to crash a website.
While it may seem like fun and games discovering the gaping security flaws in companies’ sites, it isn’t all kicks and giggles for some.
Last week, LulzSec posted a random assortment of 62,000 emails and passwords online for all to use.
After mocking people’s choices of passwords on Twitter, the group started retweeting users who got their hands on this newly leaked information — and the results aren’t “for the lulz.”
“Got an Xbox Live, Paypal, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube THE WHOLE LOT! J-J-J-J-J-J-JACKPOT,” one person tweeted.
“Cheers for the paypal account with £250 in it! ;),” tweeted another.
“Ruined 2 relationships via Facebook so far today. Thanks, LulzSec!”
Obviously it’s difficult to confirm whether these claims are true, but the possibility of hacking is nonetheless terrifying.
I chose not to download the file with the 62,000 passwords from fear my laptop would explode, but LulzSec bragged about how it received 200 downloads in 20 seconds and 2000 downloads just minutes later before MediaFire pulled the document.
Crazy, I know.
Whether LulzSec is truly hacking “for the lulz” isn’t the point.
The fact that it is this easy to get into a company’s “secure” database and pull users’ personal information is beyond worrisome.
If this is the point hackers are trying to make, they are definitely succeeding.
The LulzSec incident makes me rethink what information I should store on the Internet and what I shouldn’t. The same should go for you.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it forever: Just because a website claims to be “private” or “secure” doesn’t mean it’s true.
If it’s on the Internet, it’s for the whole world to see — and LulzSec is helping prove that point, one hilariously insulting tweet at a time.
Adam Arinder is a 21-year-old communication studies senior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.
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Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]
Press X to Not Die: New group LulzSec hacking company websites ‘for the lulz’
June 22, 2011