LulzSec hacks The Sun with 'death of Murdoch' as front page story

Hacking group LulzSec has claimed responsibility for an attack that replaced the home page of The Sun's web site with a bogus story about the death of Rupert Murdoch.

The story, which has now been removed, reported that Murdoch had been found dead at his home after having ingested a large quantity of palladium, surrounded by family photos and a broken bottle of vintage wine. Visitors to The Sun's web site were also redirected to LulzSec's Twitter feed.

"We have joy, we have fun, we have messed up Rupert's Sun," LulzSec tweeted.

The attack took place hours after news broke of the death of former News of the World journalist Sean Hoare, who admitted last year that the hacking of mobile phones was endemic at News International. Police have said that his death is unexplained, but not suspicious.

LulzSec had announced its retirement after a 50-day hacking spree that took down some of the biggest names in the business, including the CIA, the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the US Senate and Sony. However, it seems that the group is out of retirement and hacking again.

The timing suggests that The Sun's security was either very weak or that the attack had been planned for some time. The fake news story was a close match to the formatting used by The Sun, and the choice of topic does not look accidental.

This latest move comes as the hacking scandal continues to grow. Police are reported to have recovered a phone, laptop computer and documents from a bin near the home of former News international chief executive Rebekah Brooks, who resigned on Friday and was arrested on Sunday.

Metropolitan Police commissioner Paul Stephenson resigned over the weekend, followed today by assistant commissioner John Yates, who quit after failing to investigate the initial reports of hacking thoroughly.