“We want to send a message that chaos on the internet is unacceptable. [Even if] hackers can be believed to have social causes, it’s entirely unacceptable to break into web sites and commit unlawful acts,” said Chabinsky.

LulzSec and Anonymous responded by declaring that governments that lie to their citizens and erode freedom “piece by piece”, as well as the corporates and lobbyists which conspire with them, are also unacceptable.

“These governments and corporations are our enemy. And we will continue to fight them, with all methods we have at our disposal, and that certainly includes breaking into their web sites and exposing their lies,” the hackers said.

“We are not scared any more. Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea. Any attempt to do so will make your citizens more angry until they will roar in one gigantic choir.”

The groups also pulled up Chabinsky over his suggestion that “we have to ensure that the World Wide Web does not become the wild wild west”, arguing that “most people do not behave like bandits if they have no reason to”.

“We become bandits on the internet because you have forced our hand. The anonymous bitchslap rings through your ears like hacktivism movements of the 90s. We’re back – and we’re not going anywhere. Expect us,” the groups said.

LulzSec and Anonymous reneged on their original promise to release email files relating to The Sun and News of the World on Thursday afternoon, claiming that doing so could compromise the investigation.

However, a tweet from LulzSec later stated that it is working with “certain media outlets” to which it has granted access to some of the emails.