This article was published on June 22, 2011

‘LulzSec suspect’ charged with Computer Misuse offences


‘LulzSec suspect’ charged with Computer Misuse offences

19-year-old Ryan Cleary, the man suspected by police of involvement in a number of hacking incidences, has been charged with offences under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act.

The AP writes that Cleary faces five charges, including one related to a recent Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency’s website, which has been attributed to the LulzSec hacker group. The earliest charges he faces are from October and November last year and relate to attacks on the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) respectively.

Cleary was arrested late on Monday in Essex, UK, suspected of being involved in a number of attacks on government and corporate targets. LulzSec yesterday denied that Cleary was part of their group.

Cleary’s arrest followed a collaboration between the UK’s Metropolitan Police and the FBI, which looked into a number of high-profile hacking attempts and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against international businesses and intelligence agencies.

LulzSec, the hacker group which has come to prominence in recent weeks following a number of high-profile security breaches, state that Cleary ran an IRC server which it used, but was not a member.

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The post was edited by the author two hours after publication, for clarity.

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