You know, I have been one to think that there are times when I wouldn't mind having a "Punisher" kind of person running around taking out really bad people that the law otherwise fails to punish due to loopholes, mistakes and simple payoffs. I have also wondered why hackers never actually go after companies and people who really do bad things to this world.

Then I think about how everyone has a different idea what justice really is and I can't help but take back these idea when i think that a person or persons like this will have a completely set of laws based, not on a general believe by the public they claim to fight for, but of the belief they themselves have. And this act by lulzSec is proof of that.

When a person or group of people go out and wage wars against supposed "bad people" based on their concept of "bad people" it's a recipe for disaster.

At this point, lulzSec should be considered a terrorist group and should be dealt with accordingly.

I absolutely agree.

Absolutely. Courts will determine guilt, GoaFan77. Not some group of Blackhats.

I agree. My original point was that the posting the home address of officers seems a far worse crime to me. From things like police training guides, sometimes good things come from bad means. With home addresses, all I see is them encouraging vigilantism.

Given this groups' previous activity, I agree wholeheartedly.

none of this surprises me.......I've been preaching the looming danger of cyber-crime explosions for over a decade (and I'm sure I wasn't alone in this either).

The problem is we as a society keep wanting more and more ease of access to all of our information these days.  Cloud computing is only making this kind of stuff easier.  We collectively want access to everything now which means more and more risk is entertained since due to certain internet infrastructure design issues security can't keep up with the exponential growth in demand for and use of cloud services.

We have become our own weakness, or at the very least our demands amplify said weakness to the point where it's nearly impossible to secure our information properly and over the long-term.  Couple that with a few generations of entitlement-babies and you've got the perfect recipe for our current situation.

Things will get much worse yet, before/if they ever actually get better......

the Monk

I'm genuinely glad to hear you say so, GoaFan77.

to the_Monk. Very well stated! I'm really afraid there's no getting the worms back in the can. Literally.

Indeed, they are "just human" as you say.  But you do seem to have glossed over a very important point of the Doc's. 

I trust them more than a bunch of script kiddies.  But that does not say I have to trust them unequivocally.

A message for LulzSec:

The immigration system America has in place now is unjust and based almost entirely on false precepts. I have no problem seeing Sheriff Arpaio (sp?) and the rest of its willing agents get taken down a peg or two. But this is just... indiscriminate overkill. The virtual equivalent of Shock & Awe. A lot of these people being targeted are just regular cops, and the families of regular cops. The people who already too often get trotted out as America's favorite scapegoats. They've never done anything to perpetuate this mess. Some of them have probably been on the business end of immigration paranoia themselves. I'm not saying they all are, but hey, it's just collateral damage, right?

You know who else is willing to bust up thousands of innocent bystanders to catch one genuine threat?

The Border Patrol.

You guys want to fight "the Man"?

I've got a surprise for you.

You are "the Man".

Well they blew it when they revealed police intelligence--which can include names of snitches, undercover officers and inter agency cases--like the FBI.

I'm predicting the "lulz" are gonna go down a lot in volume when a dozen of them get twenty years in a federal prison...or more if they are implicated in any deaths of informants or officers.

They have forced US federal involvement at this point on a big level.  Pretty stupid.  For 'intelligent" types, the inability to perceive the line between internet reality and actual reality is pretty ironic.

And not to stir up debate on the issue--but what other country gets vilified for enforcing it's border laws?  Good grief.

I can guarantee that the FBI (and probably quite a few other agencies - after all, some may be outside the US) are looking for these criminals. I really don't envy them when they're found, and they will be found. Rest assured.

Uncle Sam don't play.

Scary part is I'm not entirely sure they will get caught. Thus far US cybersecurity hasn't been seen to be terribly effective. Of course, most of that was Defense-centered stuff and not law-enforcement, but since the Pentagon usually gets first pass at the budget buffet I kind of question whether the FBI has anything better. That said, this isn't China or Wikileaks they're trying to hunt. The very first thing these guys (girls??) want you to hear about them is "Lulz", so I also question their capabilities.

Oh, and one more thing. In the "letter" above, I referred to the border patrol as the ones behind America's more controversial immigration policies, simply because they were the ones blamed in the letter and I was "addressing" LulzSec. There are at least good seven or eight different agencies that deal with immigration, and I have neither the time or inclination to figure out who does what.

I think some of you are in dreamland......

There are plenty of cracker groups out there with more knowledge and tools available to them then the entirety of law enforcement world wide.  I predict in the times to come we will see breaches 10x worse than those reported today and there will be NOTHING anyone (least of all "uncle sammy") can do about it.

I come from somewhat such a background, and I can tell you.....there were a few guys even back then who truly scared me with their skills.  They would be considered "babies" by today's standards.  If many of you truly and I mean truly understood just how vulnerable we really are as a computerized-society you would probably want to rid yourselves of all computer devices.

Just saying.......some of you don't sound like you understand the real "threat" here.

EDIT:  as mankind (collectively) we are now simply having to reap what was sown.  nothing much to do about that execpt to grin and bear it.  really.....anyone who thinks these groups can be effectively squashed is in dreamland.  these groups will NEVER be squashed and we will only live to see our information fall to bigger and bigger threats as time goes on.  mark my words.

Oh trust me--they will get caught.

They won't catch "all" of them but I assure you they will catch some of the real "players".  As smart as hackers think they are, it's usually not half as smart as they imagine.

When I was in the navy there was some advice and old salt gave me, "Don't try to be the baddest guy in the bar because it just makes you a target and there's always someone badder out there than you are.".

There are way more criminals than cops out there and they all think they won't get caught yet the jails are still full.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387566,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fbreakingnews+%28PCMag.com+Breaking+News

 @Sinperium

hey buddy....how's the "war on drugs" working for y'all?

Mark my words......it'll be the same damn thing all over again!  Take down one group?  Three more spring up in it's vacuum.  You'll see......I will not be wrong.