Cyber Vandals Breach Senate Website

The U.S. Senate over the weekend became the latest target of a loosely organized hacker group that has been eager to flex its muscles in a show of technological force.

The group, which calls itself Lulz Security, broke into a public portion of the Senate website but did not reach behind a firewall to access more sensitive information on the network, the Senate’s Sergeant at Arms Office confirmed Monday, Reuters reports.

Authorities said that the hack had not compromised any individual senator’s information or any other sensitive data, but that they would nonetheless launch a full review of the website.

Lulz Security on Monday posted a list of files online that do not appear to be sensitive but proved that they had successfully infiltrated the Senate’s network. “We don’t like the U.S. government very much,” the group said in a release. “This is a small, just-for-kicks release of some internal data from Senate.gov–is this an act of war, gentleman?”

The “act of war” comment refers to reports that the military has decided that it could use traditional military force in response to cyber attacks from foreign countries (something, it should be noted, that Lulz Security is not).

Lulz Security has also previously claimed responsibility for a number of high-profile attacks on other U.S-based websites, including those of Sony, Fox, and PBS. During the PBS hack, the group posted a fake story claiming that slain rapper Tupac Shakur was alive and well in New Zealand.