Hacking group ‘LulzSec’ declares stop to cyber assaults

A hacker group that has hit numerous impressive websites over the last two months has declared that it is closure.

Lulz Security made its statement through its Twitter account, describing no basis for its decision.

A statement published on a file-sharing website said that its "intended 50-day sail has expired".

The group leapt to fame by carrying out assaults on companies such as Sony and Nintendo.

Presenters Fox and PBS, the CIA, and the United States Senate have also been cyber-assaulted by the group.

As a leaving shot, the group released a selection of documents actually including confidential material taken from the Arizona police department and US telecoms giant AT&T.

Correspondents say LulzSec's declaration could be a sign that its members are worried because of recent police inquiries, including the detention of a British man alleged of links to the group, and attempts by rival hackers to expose them.

The group's characters remain unidentified and it has not been possible to call its members directly to verify its statement.

The statement said that "our crew of six wishes you a happy 2011".

"So with those last considerations, it's time to say bon voyage," it added.

"Our designed 50 day cruise has finished, and we must now sail into the detachment, leaving behind - we hope -stimulation, fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery, embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. If something, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone, somewhere."

But LulzSec advised its followers to keep on.

"We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement patents itself into an uprising that can continue on without us," the statement said.

"Please don't discontinue. Together, united, we can stomp down our common tormentors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we justify."

The group had earlier told that it desired to hit the "higher ups" who write the rules and "bring them down a few notches".

In an online Q&A, the hacker recognized as Whirlpool, who illustrated himself as "captain of the Lulz Boat", said that while the group had begun hacking "for snickers" - for which the word "lulz" is cyber-slang - it changed into "politically aggravated moral hacking".

A LulzSec member said the group had at least five gigabytes of "government and law enforcement data" from around the world, which it intended to release in the next three weeks.

Ryan Cleary, 19, from Wickford, Essex, was detained as part of a Scotland Yard and FBI probe into LulzSec and indicted with hacking the website of the UK Serious Organized Crime Agency.