British police arrested a 18-year-old man believed to be a leader of
computer hacking groups that boasted attacks on the networks of the
CIA, Sony and Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
On the 27th of July, officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's
(MPS) Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) arrested the teenager in a
pre-planned intelligence-led operation.
The police believes that the teenager is be linked to a continuing
international investigation into the criminal activity of the
so-called "hacktivist" groups Anonymous and LulzSec, and allegedly
uses the online nickname "Topiary" which is presented as the
spokesperson for the groups.
The young man was arrested and was transported to a police station
in central London. A search is underway at the address.
The police also searched a residential address in Lincolnshire. A
17-year-old male was being interviewed under caution at a
Lincolnshire police station in connection with the inquiry. He has
not been arrested.
The latest police operation is linked to PCeU's investigation into
network intrusions and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
against a number of international business and intelligence agencies
by what is believed to be the same hacking group.
Anonymous and LulzSec groups
issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that the
FBI had wrongfully arrested some of their supporters for
participating in "digital sit-ins." The statement also urged
supporters to boycott PayPal electronic payment service. It asked
supporters to close their PayPal accounts.
In related news, South Korea' communications regulator said Thursday
hackers from China had attacked an Internet portal and blogging site
operated by SK Comms, accessing the personal information (including
phone numbers, e-mail addresses, names and coded data of users) of
up to 35 million users in what could be the country's biggest cyber
attack so far.