Rogue hacker group LulzSec has been in the media spotlight over the last couple of weeks, with the rebellious band hacking into the U.S. Senate, the CIA, Fox News and many other companies and government departments.

Now it seems the time for ‘lulz’ is over, as the group yesterday announced that its activities would be coming to an end after its planned 50 day cruise.

The group didn't give explicit reasons for the halt in activities, but claimed that the 50 day anti-security romp was planned to last just that long. The group may also be wary of advancing law enforcement agencies, with alleged member Ryan Cleary being arrested in the UK last week.

The group tweeted and posted a statement online on pastebin and released a new cache of files via the thepiratebay before it called it a day. “For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could,” part of their statement read.

And even though the voyage aboard the “lulz boat” is over for the time being, the group encouraged others to follow its example of defiance in the future. “We hope, wish, even beg, that the movement manifests itself into a revolution that can continue on without us. The support we've gathered for it in such a short space of time is truly overwhelming, and not to mention humbling. Please don't stop.”

According to The Register its farewell dump includes files pertaining to AOL, AT&T, Battlefield Heroes, Nato-bookshop.org, Electronic Arts and purportedly the FBI. The files contain internal memos, user details, assorted files and website logins of the various sites.

The AT&T files are said to be the largest, and includes a range of internal documents relating to its LTE network. Another document entitled, “Office Networks of Corporations” includes IP addresses for previous hacking targets including Walt Disney, Sony, Qwest Communications and EMI.

While LulzSec's “antisec” or anti-security campaign seems to be over, it is more than likely that similarly styled hacking groups or agendas will arise in the future. Hacking collective Anonymous has reportedly pledged their support to LulzSec, so don't count on this being the last time you read their name.

It remains to be seen if law enforcement will or can catch up to any of the other hackers, who have thus far managed to avoid the long arm of the law. It does leave quite a void in the present hacking arena, and while LulzSec's activities weren't necessarily based around 'hacktivist' ideals, some claim the group nonetheless makes for a powerful ally on the side of government transparency.