Serious Organised Crime Agency takes down website after hacking attack

Josh Halliday

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), the UK national law enforcement unit dubbed the 'British FBI', has been forced to take its website offline after an attack by the computer hacking group, LulzSec.

Soca took down its website late on Monday after it was targeted with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack by the notorious internet group. The website was still down early on Tuesday but was back in service later in the morning.

It is thought to be the first time a British law enforcement website has been crippled by the group, which has previously attacked sites belonging to the US Senate, the CIA, as well as the games firms Nintendo and Sony.

In a message posted on Twitter on Monday, LulzSec said: "Tango down – soca.gov.uk – in the name of #AntiSec." The group later added: "DDoS is of course our least powerful and most abundant ammunition. Government hacking is taking place right now behind the scenes. #AntiSec."

Early on Tuesday, LulzSec warned that it would step up the attacks by hacking in to government websites and stealing confidential documents. "Our next step is to categorise and format leaked items we acquire and release them in #AntiSec 'payloads' on our website and The Pirate Bay," the group posted on Twitter.

A spokesman for Soca, the government agency that draws on expertise from the police, immigration and revenue and customs to investigate organised crime including drugs and people trafficking, said its website was taken offline to "limit the impact" of the attack.

He added: "The Soca website is a source of information for the general public which is hosted by an external provider. It is not linked to our operational material or the data we hold."

Having established itself as a formidable splinter group to Anonymous, the hacking group embroiled in the WikiLeaks fallout, LulzSec has recently declared its intention to break into government websites and leak confidential documents. "Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments," the group has said.

The group initially only targeted US broadcasters, including PBS and Fox, and gaming firms, most notably Sony and Nintendo.

The Guardian