The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested a man claiming to be the leader of the Lulz Security hacking group.
When contacted by phone, an AFP spokesperson told us a media release and press conference are coming later in the day. ABC News first reported the arrest.
The suspect is reportedly a 24-year-old man from New South Wales. He will be charged with hacking offenses and is due in court in May.
Update: The AFP release claims the arrested was an IT professional with access to sensitive information that put its clients and the government at risk. Officials began investigating him earlier this month after discovering a breach in a government website.
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LulzSec, a so-called “hacktivist group” with loose connections to Anonymous, has taken credit for several high-profile cyberattacks, including one against the US CIA, in recent history. Last year, two alleged LulzSec members pled guilty to hacking Sony, 20th Century Fox, the NHS and UK police agency SOCA.
Last March, the US FBI went public with the information that Sabu, the alleged leader of LulzSec at the time, had been cooperating with the agency. However, Lulzsec members claimed that Sabu had helped perpetrate further hacks even while he was supposedly acting as an informant.
Image via Flickr / goblinbox
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