Hacker groups and individuals have been practicing their art for as long as there has been something to hack, and as online security has become more sophisticated, so have the hacks. For international hacking group LulzSec, the lure of the challenge was too much to resist and their list of high profile conquests includes; Sony, CIA, SOCA, Fox.com and more. LulzSec ("Lulz," (from LOLs) which often signifies laughter at the victim of a prank, and "Sec," short for "Security") seemed to have an agenda of causing mayhem through internet pranks, rather than hacking for financial profit, and have glorified this with the motto "Laughing at your security since 2011!".

Specialising in finding websites with poor security, and then stealing and posting information from them online, LulzSec attracted praise from some for exposing security flaws and the weak defence that currently exists against hackers. However, they also attracted the attention of other hacking groups who weren’t impressed that LulzSec had released the personal information of many innocent internet users. This led to its demise as rival groups targeted LulzSec and group members were themselves exposed, resulting in the arrests of some individuals and the ongoing international search by the authorities for the remaining culprits.

On 26 June, LulzSec released a "50 days of lulz" statement, which its claimed to be its final release, confirming that LulzSec consisted of six members, and that it was shutting down its  website. The group claimed it had planned to be active for only fifty days from the beginning, saying; "We're not quitting because we're afraid of law enforcement. The press are getting bored of us, and we're getting bored of us.". Using Meltwater Buzz, we have followed the highs and lows of LulzSec's run of pranks, looking at the online sentiment results. It’s clear that there was a mixed reaction to the group before it disbanded, with supporters and haters alike taking to the internet to voice their opinions.