LulzSec Hacks The Sun, Posts Fake Story on Murdoch Death

Following a breach by the hacker group LulzSec, a fake story describing the death of Rupert Murdoch appeared on the website of tabloid publication The Sun on July 18.
LulzSec Hacks The Sun, Posts Fake Story on Murdoch Death
7/18/2011
Updated:
7/18/2011

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/murdochdeadstory_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/murdochdeadstory_medium.jpg" alt="Following a breach by the hacker group LulzSec, a fake story describing the death of Rupert Murdoch appeared on the website of tabloid publication The Sun on July 18. (Screenshot from thesun.co.uk)" title="Following a breach by the hacker group LulzSec, a fake story describing the death of Rupert Murdoch appeared on the website of tabloid publication The Sun on July 18. (Screenshot from thesun.co.uk)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-129337"/></a>
Following a breach by the hacker group LulzSec, a fake story describing the death of Rupert Murdoch appeared on the website of tabloid publication The Sun on July 18. (Screenshot from thesun.co.uk)
“Media moguls body discovered” proclaims a large bold headline from a fake story describing the death of Rupert Murdoch, which appeared on the website of tabloid publication The Sun on July 18, following a breach by the hacker group LulzSec.

The story, written by a proclaimed staff reporter, claims that Murdoch ingested a large quantity of Palladium metal before walking into his “topiary” garden to die. Topiary is the screen name of one of LulzSec’s leading members.

The story questions whether or not Murdoch’s intent was suicide, stating that “Authorities would not comment … though the general consensus among locals and unnamed sources is that this is the case.”

The Sun could not be reached for comment on the story.

News of the breach was first announced on a Twitter account affiliated with the Anonymous “hacktivist” organization. @YourAnonNews, posted a tweet stating “Sun/News of the world OWNED. We’re sitting on their emails. Press release tomorrow,” and included a link to the fabricated story.

<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/luzsecmurdoch_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/luzsecmurdoch_medium.jpg" alt="A comic placed at the bottom of the fake article of Murdoch's death by the hacker group LulzSec. The image details a comical portrayal of their discovery of a vulnerable website.   (Screenshot from thesun.co.uk)" title="A comic placed at the bottom of the fake article of Murdoch's death by the hacker group LulzSec. The image details a comical portrayal of their discovery of a vulnerable website.   (Screenshot from thesun.co.uk)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-129338"/></a>
A comic placed at the bottom of the fake article of Murdoch's death by the hacker group LulzSec. The image details a comical portrayal of their discovery of a vulnerable website.   (Screenshot from thesun.co.uk)
At the bottom of the fake article is a comic strip featuring images related to LulzSec, detailing a comical portrayal of their discovery of a vulnerable website, the Sun, on their “boat’s” radar, then states “hoist the lulz flag, and prime the LFI cannon!”

The group often refers to themselves as “the lulz boat.” The online term, “lulz” is a play on “lol,” which means “laugh out loud.”

Right-clicking the comic panel revealed a window stating “Murdoch. The end of your global media domination is nigh. Be afraid!”

LulzSec claimed responsibility for hacking The Sun on their own Twitter feed. This comes after LulzSec claimed disband in June. “We have owned Sun/News of the World” they stated, adding that “This is only the beginning … that story is simply phase 1 - expect the lulz to flow in coming days.”

LulzSec was attributed with hacking Sony and numerous other entities during its proclaimed 50 days of “sailing the proxeas” in May and June. “Proxeas” refers to “proxies.”

The Sun is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, also the head of the recently disbanded News of the World publication which was the center of a scandal involving illegal phone hacking.