LulzSec Hacks

2011eventclassic

Published September 5, 2026

LulzSec Hacks refers to a 50-day cyber-attack spree run by the hacker crew Lulz Security between May and June 2011, hitting Fox, Sony, PBS, the CIA public site, and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency before the group announced its retirement on Pastebin. The campaign became one of the most-watched hacking stories of the early Twitter era.

hacking memescybersecurity memesearly 2010s memestrolling memescrime memes

Overview

The LulzSec Hacks campaign mixed SQL injection breaches with DDoS attacks and website defacements, all announced on the group's @LulzSec Twitter feed under the "Lulz Boat" persona3. Signature stunts included overlaying the PBS homepage with a Nyan Cat image and the slogan "all your base are belong to lulzsec"5, dumping stolen data via Pastebin and The Pirate Bay on Fridays under the tag #fuckfbifriday, and posting short "Tango down" tweets to claim each new target6. Between attacks the crew mixed political statements with jokes, from a fan message to Sega about the Dreamcast4 to their public line that they were not at war with Anonymous10.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (@LulzSec announcements) / Pastebin (data releases)
Creator
Lulz Security
Date
2011

The campaign's first public hit landed on May 5, 2011, when the crew breached Fox Broadcasting Company and released the X Factor contestants database along with about 73,000 applicant records1. Five days later they dumped a Fox.com sales database. The @LulzSec Twitter handle became the operation's stage: each new intrusion was called out with a "tango down" tweet3 or a "spot the SQLi" taunt2.

How It Spread

In late May and early June the group turned on Sony, claiming to have compromised over a million accounts across Sony Pictures, Sony Music Japan, SonyBMG Netherlands, and SonyBMG Belgium via SQL injection2. LulzSec cited Sony's lawsuit against iPhone jailbreak hacker George Hotz as its motive, and blamed a Frontline documentary on WikiLeaks for its subsequent PBS defacement5. On June 15 they knocked cia.gov offline with the message "Tango down – cia.gov – for the lulz"3.

June 19 brought Operation Anti-Security, a joint campaign with Anonymous announced on Pastebin. The next day the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency site fell to a DDoS attack that LulzSec claimed with another "tango down" tweet6. On June 23 the group released "Chinga La Migra," dumping Arizona Department of Public Safety files in protest of the SB1070 anti-immigration law7. Two days later LulzSec posted a farewell statement on Pastebin announcing its retirement after 50 days of hacking5.

The retirement didn't stop the prosecutions. In March 2012 the US Department of Justice charged Ryan Ackroyd, Jake Davis, Darren Martyn, Donncha O'Cearrbhail, and Jeremy Hammond after Hector Xavier Monsegur (Sabu) was outed as an FBI informant following his August 2011 guilty plea8. YouTube channel FawkesSecurity's "LulzSec Returns" video the following month tried to relaunch the campaign, but skeptics questioned whether it had any tie to the original crew9.

How to Use This Meme

LulzSec Hacks is a historical event, not a template. References usually invoke the "Tango down" catchphrase the group used to announce each new target3 or the Nyan Cat overlay on the defaced PBS homepage5.

Frequently Asked Questions

LulzSec Hacks

2011eventclassic

Published September 5, 2026

LulzSec Hacks refers to a 50-day cyber-attack spree run by the hacker crew Lulz Security between May and June 2011, hitting Fox, Sony, PBS, the CIA public site, and the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency before the group announced its retirement on Pastebin. The campaign became one of the most-watched hacking stories of the early Twitter era.

hacking memes cybersecurity memes early 2010s memes trolling memes crime memes

Overview

The LulzSec Hacks campaign mixed SQL injection breaches with DDoS attacks and website defacements, all announced on the group's @LulzSec Twitter feed under the "Lulz Boat" persona3. Signature stunts included overlaying the PBS homepage with a Nyan Cat image and the slogan "all your base are belong to lulzsec"5, dumping stolen data via Pastebin and The Pirate Bay on Fridays under the tag #fuckfbifriday, and posting short "Tango down" tweets to claim each new target6. Between attacks the crew mixed political statements with jokes, from a fan message to Sega about the Dreamcast4 to their public line that they were not at war with Anonymous10.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (@LulzSec announcements) / Pastebin (data releases)
Creator
Lulz Security
Date
2011

The campaign's first public hit landed on May 5, 2011, when the crew breached Fox Broadcasting Company and released the X Factor contestants database along with about 73,000 applicant records1. Five days later they dumped a Fox.com sales database. The @LulzSec Twitter handle became the operation's stage: each new intrusion was called out with a "tango down" tweet3 or a "spot the SQLi" taunt2.

How It Spread

In late May and early June the group turned on Sony, claiming to have compromised over a million accounts across Sony Pictures, Sony Music Japan, SonyBMG Netherlands, and SonyBMG Belgium via SQL injection2. LulzSec cited Sony's lawsuit against iPhone jailbreak hacker George Hotz as its motive, and blamed a Frontline documentary on WikiLeaks for its subsequent PBS defacement5. On June 15 they knocked cia.gov offline with the message "Tango down – cia.gov – for the lulz"3.

June 19 brought Operation Anti-Security, a joint campaign with Anonymous announced on Pastebin. The next day the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency site fell to a DDoS attack that LulzSec claimed with another "tango down" tweet6. On June 23 the group released "Chinga La Migra," dumping Arizona Department of Public Safety files in protest of the SB1070 anti-immigration law7. Two days later LulzSec posted a farewell statement on Pastebin announcing its retirement after 50 days of hacking5.

The retirement didn't stop the prosecutions. In March 2012 the US Department of Justice charged Ryan Ackroyd, Jake Davis, Darren Martyn, Donncha O'Cearrbhail, and Jeremy Hammond after Hector Xavier Monsegur (Sabu) was outed as an FBI informant following his August 2011 guilty plea8. YouTube channel FawkesSecurity's "LulzSec Returns" video the following month tried to relaunch the campaign, but skeptics questioned whether it had any tie to the original crew9.

How to Use This Meme

LulzSec Hacks is a historical event, not a template. References usually invoke the "Tango down" catchphrase the group used to announce each new target3 or the Nyan Cat overlay on the defaced PBS homepage5.

Frequently Asked Questions