LulzSec’s stupid hack request line

From the BBC:

The hacker group Lulz Security has opened a telephone request line so its fans can suggest potential targets.

It claims to have launched denial of service attacks on several websites as a result, although it did not detail which ones.

The unspecified hacks formed part of a wave of security breaches that the group called Titanic Takeover Tuesday.

Callers to the US number are met with a recorded message, in a heavy French accent, by an individual calling themself Pierre Dubois.

While the 614 area code appears to relate to the state of Ohio, it is unlikely that this is its real location.

Lulz Security said it had used distributed denial of service attacks (DDoS) against eight sites suggested by callers.

It also claimed to have hit the websites of gaming magazine The Escapist, and multiplayer games EVE Online and League of Legends.Sign up today.

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Some folks find this group amusing. I’m not one of them.

I mentioned that last week when I suggested that LulzSec’s brand of fun falls short of the grown-up approach we need to improve security.

Call me humorless. Call me a moaner. I don’t care.

Companies that are lax on security need to be exposed, for sure. But the LulzSec approach isn’t the way to do it.

When you attack someone for fun, all you do is contribute to the picture some execs have of security pros as young punks who care more about notoriety than about helping them secure their infrastructure.

The sooner these guys pack up the box of pranks and pursue more grown-up methods of security, the better.

–Bill Brenner