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LulzSec still sitting on vast cache of unreleased data

LulzSec, though disbanded, claims to have still a vast cache of hacked email and damaging data stored at its disposal.
Written by Zack Whittaker, Contributor

LulzSec, the group that went on a hacking rampage for fifty days over the summer, retains a vast amount of data, according to one of its leading members known as "Sabu".

Speaking to Reddit users in an "Ask me Anything" thread, and documented in the Guardian, Sabu told others of the achievements LulzSec had attained, whilst highlighting his own state as being "effectively on the run".

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(Image via Flickr)

But as LulzSec shot to fame earlier this year, after a spate of web attacks and high-profile data hacks, its demise was just as heavily reported on -- opting to quit while they were ahead, as more members of the group were arrested and sought.

Center to the affair was the News International phone hacking scandal, which brought the end of the 168-year reign of British newspaper News of the World.

LulzSec claims to still hold onto 4 GB worth of emails by Murdoch-owned sister newspaper The Sun, which could expose the organisation's internal practices, such as phone hacking and paying off law enforcement.

The newspaper shut earlier this year after a long-running affair which exposed journalists at the paper illegally hacking voicemails of celebrities and murder victims, where public pressure erupted and bubbled over to levels the Murdoch-owned organisation could no longer handle.

But in a bit to ensure the British judicial system takes its place, the hacking group confirmed in July that it would not release the emails as to not jeopardise the ongoing court case.

Also, Sabu claims the data they hold goes beyond News International, including banking targets and financiers.

"There are a lot of interesting dumps we're sitting on due to timing", he posted to Twitter, adding: "We got them stashed on a Chinese storage server". One cache belongs to HSBC, although the hacker added that there was no "smoking guns" found in the documents.

The group, an offshoot of hacktivist group Anonymous, hacked into a number of high-profile websites and services, including Sony Pictures Europe, Fox, PBS and News International owned sites, such as The Sun newspaper.

Also on its attack list was the U.S. Congress website and the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency, which precipitated further the UK's response to cracking down on the group.

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