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by Pete Davison

Alleged LulzSec and Anonymous Spokesperson Arrested

News
Jul 28, 20112 mins
Data and Information SecurityVideo Games

Police in the UK have arrested an 18 year old man believed to be the spokesperson for notorious "hacktivist" groups LulzSec and Anonymous.

According to a statement from Scotland Yard, officers from the Metropolitan Police Service’s Police Central e-Crime Unit (snappily abbreviated to the MPS PCeU) arrested an 18 year old man yesterday under suspicion of breaching the UK’s Computer Misuse and Criminal Law Acts.

The suspect lived in the Shetland Islands, off the northeast coast of Scotland, and is believed to be “Topiary,” the spokesperson for notorious hacktivist groups Anonymous and LulzSec. He is currently being questioned at a police station in Central London, and his property is being searched.

A 17 year old male from Lincolnshire in the UK is also being interviewed under caution by police, but has not been arrested.

LulzSec and Anonymous shot to notoriety in recent months following a series of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on a number of international businesses and intelligence agencies as well as the theft of a considerable amount of personal information from a variety of sites. Several gaming-related sites have been targeted by the groups recently, including The Escapist, Sega, BioWare, League of Legends, Minecraft and EVE Online.

Two earlier arrests, of a 19 year old man and a 16 year old boy, have already taken place in the investigation. The 19 year old has been charged and will be appearing in court in late August, while the 16 year old is set to also return to custody in late August pending further enquiries.

LulzSec’s Twitter account has been silent since yesterday. When suspect Ryan Cleary was arrested in late June, the group was quick to deny he was an important member.

Anonymous and LulzSec were in the middle of a joint operation to organize a mass boycott of leading e-payment provider PayPal.

This article originally appeared on GamePro.com as Alleged LulzSec and Anonymous Spokesperson Arrested