2600 Australia is closing its virtual doors.

The hacking group organises forums, seminars and meetings for security professionals, enthusiasts and hackers alike.

Organising the group’s activities has become too time consuming for the key organisers to sustain.

Grant Bayley, the head of 2600 Australia, released a message to the 2600 mailing lists to announce the decision.

"...we're putting it to sleep," he said.

A farewell notice was posted on the main page of 2600.

"Between March 1999 and November 2002, 2600 Australia brought together people interested in computer security, electronic gadgetry, communications, privacy, and technology exploration in general... we spoke up on issues such as Internet Censorship, Cybercrime, DVD encryption, and many other issues."

The 2600 mailing lists, which have around 700 subscribers, will no doubt continue to operate, albeit in a different form. Bayley has already offered to continue hosting the mailing list through wiretapped.net, an online security software an information archive that he founded.

Despite its "hacker" roots, 2600 has been responsible for bringing together some incredibly intelligent individuals. These days 2600 is seen less as a shadowy hacking group and more as a collection of young and highly energised people leading the intellectual debate on issues such as privacy and security in the digital age.

That is not to say that they haven’t ruffled a few corporate feathers in their time.

"It goes without saying that in the course of this, we made many friends, and made many enemies. So be it - I'm sure we all had some fun at various times, and hopefully made a difference, however small." the group said on its website.