Police have arrested a 19-year-old man they believe is the 'spokesperson' for the hacking groups LulzSec and Anonymous.
The teenager, who uses the online moniker of 'Topiary', was picked up following a raid by the Metropolitan Police in the remote Shetland Islands on Wednesday morning.
The arrest is the continuation of a police offensive against the hacktivist movement, which last week saw the of two dozen suspects questioned in the UK, the US and the Netherlands.
Topiary is seen as one of the most prominent names on the scene, which has sparked attacks on law enforcement websites and technology companies like Sony.
Hactivitst
In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "The man arrested is believed to be linked to an ongoing international investigation in to the criminal activity of the so-called "hacktivist" groups Anonymous and LulzSec, and uses the online nickname "Topiary" which is presented as the spokesperson for the groups.
"Today's operation is linked to PCeU's [Police Central e-Crime Unit] ongoing 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."
Prankster
Topiary's Twitter profile says he is a "simple prankster turned swank garden hedge. Worked with Anonymous, LulzSec, and other such paragons of intense cyber victory. You are free."
His last tweet, dated July 21st, came following the arrest of around two dozen suspected members of the hacking groups and simply said: "You can't arrest an idea."
What's most surprising about this is that all the way up in the Shetland Islands he was able to obtain a fast enough internet connection to download a .jpg file, let alone take a high profile position as a "hacktivist."
via Guardian
