After LulzSec's own data leaks, group calls it quits

On the same day that chat records detailing the inner workings of infamous hacker group Lulzsec hit the Internet, the group said it was calling it quits, marking an end to 50 days of cyber havoc.

Lulz Security -- rising to infamy after hacking multinational corporations and government agencies -- issues a statement on Saturday night thanking supporters, declaring its movers are moving on.

For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could, the LulzSec statement said.

All to selflessly entertain others - vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy.

The change comes just as secret internal logs of Internet Relay Chat surfaced on the web, giving insight into the otherwise opaque team.

Despite its braggadocio, the group is small in numbers, obsessed with their coverage in the media, and extremely protective of their image. It also appears the added spotlight from their high-profile hacks was starting to rattle the nerves of some of the members.

After the group stepped up its hacking from corporations to the US FBI on June 3, two lost their nerve and quit, fearing reprisals from the US government.

It was one of the group's own m_nerva defected and posted the chat online, which document a crucial 5-day period of the group's early development from May 31 to June 4.

Their fears reached a climax last Monday when UK police arrested 19-year-old Ryan Cleary and later charged him with a cyber attack in connection with a joint Scotland Yard and FBI probe in to a hacking group believed to be LulzSec.

This mounting pressure may have moved it disband now, before more are caught.

While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently, the group said.

The group thanked supporters for sailing with it.

The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon.

Security experts who have researched LulzSec's origins say it emerged from Anonymous, which became famous for attacking the companies and institutions that oppose WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.

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