Anonymous and LulzSec: Robin Hoods of the Web?

The assault was sustained and brutal.

Over two weeks in late June and early July, the hacker groups known as LulzSec and Anonymous took turns tinkering with the websites of the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Fraternal Order of Police, releasing troves of personal information on local officers and taking both sites off-line temporarily.

In a series of communiqués issued by Anonymous, members of the organization explicitly linked the hack to Arizona's controversial anti-illegal immigration law SB 1070 and promised they would continue to target the DPS until the "racist Arizona police state" mended its ways. (The bill would criminalize being in the United States without immigration papers.)

The attack exemplifies a new breed of hacker, one skilled in both computer intrusion and public relations. While phone hacking has captured the media's attention in recent weeks, Anonymous and groups like it have shoved their way into headlines with increasing flair and frequency. For them, toppling networks equates to civil disobedience, something we know because LulzSec and Anonymous shout it from forums and message boards, wrapping themselves in the rhetoric of one of America's favorite folk heroes: the charismatic outlaw.

"Let [this] crushing blow against Arizona police send a strong message to the ruling class around the world," read one message. "You will no longer be able to operate your campaign of terror against immigrants and working people in secrecy. We will find you, expose you, and knock you off the Internet. Many lulz" – laughs – "have been had while we purposefully strung you along slowly and painfully for the past two weeks. We know exactly what we're doing, so think twice before considering crossing us."

The language used by Anonymous was strident, hyperbolic, witty, and purposeful – a rallying cry designed to appeal equally to computer geeks, members of the media, liberals disenchanted with Arizona immigration policy, and libertarians disenchanted with government's reach. By early July, hundreds of outlets around the globe had picked up on the Arizona story, and the question of how much had actually been accomplished in the attack was overshadowed by the billowing mythos of the attack itself.

'We are fighting evil governments'

Exuberant plaudits piled up on the Anonymous Facebook page, and bloggers from Boston to Bangkok breathlessly exchanged stories of the exploits of "Operation Anti-Security." This Anti-Sec campaign eventually included cyber-raids on defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton; the Democratic Party of Orange County, Fla.; computer giant Apple Inc.; and a string of Turkish government sites.

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