Brazilian Government Latest Lulzsec Victim

Hackers Lulzsec and its associates are continuing their campaign of disrupting government websites, this time in Brazil.

In the early hours of this morning the Lulzsec Twitter account congratulated Brazilian associates for disrupting the official websites of the Brazilian government and the President’s office.

The websites were still down at the time of writing.

They join a growing list of alleged victims of Lulzsec and affiliates that already includes the CIA, Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the US Senate, Nintendo and Sony.

Although the group claims to be dedicated to hacking for entertainment’s sake, by turning its attention to government agencies and departments it is making powerful enemies.

No laughing matter

British police announced yesterday they had arrested a 19-year-old man from Essex in connection with a hacking probe into Lulzsec activities.

Ryan Cleary, from Wickford, Essex was taken to a central London police station for questioning following his arrest by officers from the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) on Monday night.

The Met said Cleary was arrested on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act offences. He remains in custody but has not been charged.

Lulzsec claimed via Twitter – its preferred platform for communication – that Cleary was no more than an associate, and not an active member.

“Ryan Cleary is not part of LulzSec; we house one of our many legitimate chatrooms on his IRC server, but that’s it,” they Tweeted.

“Clearly the UK police are so desperate to catch us that they’ve gone and arrested someone who is, at best, mildly associated with us.”

The group is fast making a name for itself for following up attacks on high profile websites and companies by taunting victims with online boasts laden with pirate-based analogies.

In just under two months the group has accumulated nearly a quarter of a million users.