Lulzsec sets up a phone line for hacking requests

HACKER GROUP Lulzsec has opened up a phone line through which callers can request the hacking of particular web sites and networks.

The group announced the phone number, 614-LULZSEC, on its Twitter page, asking people to call in. It said "pick a target and we'll obliterate it."

The line opened on Tuesday night GMT and Lulzsec was flooded with calls. According to its latest tally it had 5,000 missed calls and 2,500 voicemails.

When users call the number they are greeted by one 'Pierre Dubois' speaking in a thick French accent. The number is US-based, but it's likely that it was set up anonymously to prevent the hackers from being identified.

The group used Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on multiple targets, primarily focusing on massively multiplayer online games Eve Online, Minecraft, League of Legends and The Escapist magazine as part of what it called "Titanic Takeover Tuesday".

The web sites of these games were not directly attacked, but the overload on the login servers brought them offline, infuriating many gamers around the world.

It also hacked eight other targets on the basis of phone requests, but it did not reveal which web sites these were.

Lulzsec has gained the spotlight lately for its hacking exploits, which have targeted primarily gaming services and web sites. It was the primary group behind a number of Sony hacking incidents and it also took down the web sites of Nintendo, Bethesda, Fox, and the US Senate, among others.

Unlike Anonymous, which considers itself a "hacktivist" group, Lulzsec does not appear to be targeting anyone in particular. For example, Anonymous targeted companies that withdrew support for the whistleblower web site Wikileaks. Lulzsec, on the other hand, appears to be simply delighting in causing general online mayhem, particularly in the gaming world. It tweeted, "Let's all laugh together at butthurt gamers."

This has given Lulzsec an increasingly negative reputation and has lost it support from a large number of people who had previously been fans. On the 4chan forum, which many hackers frequent, a number of posters threatened to hunt down Lulzsec, to which Lulzsec simply replied, "challenge accepted". µ