LulzSec hackers leak more data, and then say bon voyage, ending high-profile 50-day spree

And so ended Lulz Security's 50 days of cyber-mischief. The high-profile hacker group, called LulzSec for short, announced Saturday that it was disbanding and ending its activities. It appears that the party's over, and maybe it wasn't all "for the lulz," or for fun, after all.

The group announced the end through its Twitter feed, pointing to a more-detailed statement online. In the statement, LulzSec said its six members had decided to “say bon voyage” as Lulz Security but didn't cite a reason, according to the New York Times.

The group became famous by carrying out attacks on companies such as Sony and Nintendo, and then publicizing them, according to BBC News. The hackers also hit the websites of broadcasters Fox and PBS, the CIA, and the U.S. Senate.

In its farewell message, the group also released documents that allegedly included confidential material taken from AOL, the FBI and the U.S. telecommunications company AT&T.

While LulzSec has claimed that its cyberattacks were carried out to raise awareness of poor security and to have fun, the group turned more political when it released material from the Arizona Department Public Safety on Thursday as a form of protest against that state's immigration law, the Wall Street Journal said.

Correspondents said that the announcement from LulzSec could be a sign that its members were nervous because of recent police investigations, including the arrest of a British man who LulzSec said housed one of the group's chatrooms, but wasn't part of the group, and efforts by rival hackers to expose them, BBC News said.

Over the weekend, a different hacker group, which called itself "the A-Team," posted what it said were the real names and locations of LulzSec's senior members in the U.K., U.S. and Sweden, according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to an interview with a supposed member of LulzSec by the Associated Press:

"We're not quitting because we're afraid of law enforcement," the LulzSec member said in a conversation with The Associated Press over the Internet voice program Skype. "The press are getting bored of us, and we're getting bored of us."

In the Sunday interview, the hacker acknowledged that some of the material being circulated by rivals online — which purports to reveal the hackers' online nicknames, past histories, and chat logs — was genuine, something he said had proved to be "a distraction."

LulzSec is also retiring soon after the first leak from Operation Anti-Security, a movement that group began with the Internet activist group Anonymous that urged hackers everywhere to access and leak confidential information from governments and other organizations, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us," the group said in its farewell message. "Please don't stop. Together, united, we can stomp down our common oppressors and imbue ourselves with the power and freedom we deserve."