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Will LulzSec arrests stop high-profile hacks? Don't bet on it

The arrests may have taken out the group known as "LulzSec," but there are still untold numbers of the hacktivist group Anonymous who remain active.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
Elinor Mills
3 min read
Are these the tweets of an informant?  The Twitter account of "The Real Sabu" had this to say yesterday. A final tweet  last night, ahead arrests of alleged members of hacking group LulzSec, says in German: The revolution says I am, I was, I will be."
Are these the tweets of an informant? The Twitter account of "The Real Sabu" had this to say yesterday. A final tweet overnight, ahead of arrests of alleged members of hacking group LulzSec, says in German: The revolution says I am, I was, I will be."
The real nasty hacking targeting feds may stop, at least for a while, Terban said. "In general I think it's going to break the back of the AntiSec mentality of going around and hacking things and dumping data," Terban said. "Now they've all learned that they can't necessarily just skate and get away with it."

Josh Corman, director of security intelligence for Akamai who has been studying the hackers, said it was too soon to tell if this is going to hurt the Anonymous movement long term or help it.

"It may improve their operational security" to keep identities more hidden in case of infiltrators, he said.

Mitnick knows from first-hand experience just what hacker groups like Lulz and Anonymous are up against. One of the most celebrated early hackers, Mitnick got busted on hacking charges after leading the FBI on a goose chase about 25 years ago.

"If you poke the tiger, eventually the tiger is going to bite you," Mitnick said. "When you screw with law enforcement, they take it personal--and these guys were doing that, compromising police Web sites and publishing home addresses and phone numbers."

Recounting his personal chronology of being on the lam, Mitnick recalled that he kept his circle of acquaintances to one or two hacking partners at most, and he still wound up getting informed upon.

"The larger your circle the greater your risk...If I was a member of Anonymous, which I'm not, I would be really concerned about the same thing happening to me. How many people know my real world identity?"

Below is a timeline of major LulzSec events. Dates may be approximate as it is often difficult to determine exactly when a network was compromised:

February 2, 2011 - Anonymous hacks HBGary Federal site

May 15 - LulzSec claims credit for hacking UK ATMs and Fox Network's X Factor site

May 23 - LulzSec leaks data from Sony Music Japan

May 30 - LulzSec defaces PBS.org

June 2 - Group leaks customer data from Sony Pictures

June 3 - Hacks on Nintendo and InfraGard Atlanta

June 6 - Sony Entertainment source code and Sony BMG hacks

June 7 - Monsegur, aka Sabu, arrested on identity fraud charges

June 9 - LulzSec compromises U.K. National Health Services site

June 13 - Data stolen from videogame maker Bethesda Software

June 14 - Senate site compromised

June 15 - DDoS on CIA site

June 16 - Thousands of passwords dumped

June 20 - DDoS on U.K.'s Serious Organized Crime Agency

June 21 - British police arrest 19-year-old Ryan Cleary

June 23 - Arizona law enforcement sites compromised

June 25 - LulzSec announces that they are quitting after 50 days

June 28 - Zimbabwe, Brazil, UMG, Viacom hacked

June 29 - Arizona Dept. of Public Safety data dump

June 29 - FBI searches home of Ohio man

June 30 - another Arizona law officer data dump

July 4 - Apple server targeted

July 8 - Chilean government site, IRC Federal hacked

July 11 - hackers claim Booz Allen Hamilton hack

July 18 - LulzSec deface Murdoch's The Sun

July 19 - 16 arrested in U.S.

July 22 - U.S., Italian cyber crime site hacked

July 27 - Topiary arrested (Identified this week as Jake Davis)

August 6 - Italian police sites attacked

August 15 - Monsegur pleads guilty to computer hacking charges

August 18 - Hackers claim data stolen from Vanguard Defense Industries

September 22 - Arrest of Cody Andrew Kretsinger, 23, of Phoenix

December 25 - Stratfor data stolen

(CNET's Roger Cheng contributed to this report.)