Timeline: LulzSec hack attacks

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LulzSec may claim to be just for “lulz” but it is sending shivers down the spine of many governments, banks and large companies wondering whether they will be next on the hactivist group’s target list.

Here is a timeline of the major hacks LulzSec has executed so far, hitting the headlines every time.

3 June 2011

The still-unclaimed attack on Sony’s PlayStation Network may have been the major headline grabber back in May, but the start of June saw LulzSec’s rise to fame when it hacked into servers running Sony Pictures Entertainment websites.

The group accessed more than one million customer details and published the names, birth dates, addresses, emails, phone numbers and passwords of thousands of people who had entered contests promoted by Sony.

6 June 2011

Gaming targets came back into the spotlight a few days later when it was revealed LulzSec had hacked its next target, Japanese firm Nintendo.

One of the Nintendo’s affiliate servers was attacked but it seemed the attack wasn't as serious as the one on Sony as no major customer details were published.

7 June 2011

Just as Sony started to breathe a sigh of relief, LulzSec showed it wasn’t done by targeting more divisions of the colossus company.

After accessing its systems, the hacktivists posted details of Sony BMG network maps from a New York City office and 54Mb of Sony developer source code.

10 June 2011

Next, the UK came into the frame when the National Health Service (NHS) was hit, but LulzSec seemed to show a more caring side.

The group claimed to have come across a number of IT administrator passwords and emailed the NHS to warn of the flaws in its infrastructure.

“While you aren’t considered an enemy, your work is of course brilliant – we did stumble upon several of your admin passwords,” it said. “We mean you no harm and only want to help you fix your tech issues.”

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