"We're currently working with certain media outlets who have been granted exclusive access to some of the News of the World emails we have," a tweet from the group's @LulzSec account reads.

IBRS' Turner argues that while there will always be teenagers and script kiddies out to prove themselves, the attention-seeking nature of Anonymous and LulzSec means that these "noisy, splashy hackers" days' may be numbered.

"Groups like LulzSec and Anonymous have raised their heads far too high above the wall," he says. "You will have many law enforcement agencies very determined to make sure this doesn't become a rallying cry: they will prosecute these guys.

"Agencies like the CIA face the double whammy: If they don't prosecute these guys then it makes them look like they are running a false flag operation so they are doubly incentivised to make sure these guys are brought to justice."

Ultimately, hacktivist groups may well fall victim to the relentless march of technology and become eclipsed by far more sophisticated, automated hacking techniques.