Hacker group LulzSec on Saturday announced that it is shutting down operations, but called on supporters to continue fighting its anti-government movement via a similar group, Anonymous.
"For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could," LulzSec wrote in a note posted on Pastebin.
The group, however, insisted that "we are not tied to this identity permanently," saying that "behind this jolly visage of rainbows and top hats, we are people."
Despite the sometimes childish antics, "we truly believe in the AntiSec movement," the group said. Recently, LulzSec joined forces with Anonymous to for Operation Anti-Security, which targeted the Web sites and databases of governments with which it disagreed.
"We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us," LulzSec continued. "The support we've gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don't stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve."
The group concluded by saying that it was a "crew of six," but revealed nothing else about its identity or future plans. On Twitter, LulzSec encouraged "all future #AntiSec enthusiasts to join the AnonOps IRC here ... and follow @AnonymousIRC for glory."
While LulzSec insisted it was on a "planned 50 day cruise," might it be calling things off to evade capture? Most recently, LulzSec released hundreds of documents relating to Arizona law enforcement, prompting concern that the data dump might compromise officers in undercover and other sensistive roles. That resulted in speculation that LulzSec's days might be numbered.
Recently, a 19-year-old English man was arrested and charged for several hacks done by Anonymous and LulzSec; LulzSec, however, denied that the man, Ryan Cleary, was a formal part of its group.
For more, see PCMag's Guide to Knowing Your Hackers and Did LulzSec Change the Hacking Game, or Just Get Lucky?