An article claiming “Tupac still alive in New Zealand” appeared on PBS.org late last night, and for most readers was probably the first indication that strange things were afoot in the site’s security sector. Hacker group LulzSec (or “The Lulz Boat”) commandeered PBS’s website in retaliation for their recent Frontline broadcast, “Wikisecrets,” which criticized Wikileaks, Julian Assange and Bradley Manning.
As part of LulzSec’s attack, the group posted PBS and Frontline staffer login information, released SQL database files and the PBS network map through their Twitter account. A “Free Bradley Manning” page was added to the site with the nyan cat meme image at the top of this post. Even after PBS was aware of the hack and reportedly “in control” of the situation, LulzSec continued to post on the site well into the early morning hours.
Alas, Tupac is not alive and probably never hung out in New Zealand with Biggie Smalls, and it appears PBS is back in control of their website (at least for the time being). The Lulz Boat’s hackery has apparently been cleared away.
As a response to a single aired broadcast, the hack seems a little overzealous to me. To quote BoingBoing commenter sumi : “It’s only a television program, FFS.”
What say you, Geeks? Is The Lulz Boat perhaps a little heavy-handed, or was the move totally justified?