The BBC reports that
21 June 2011 Last updated at 16:32
Teenager arrested on suspicion of hacking
A teenager has been arrested in the UK in a joint Scotland Yard and FBI probe into the hacking of websites.
The man, named locally as Ryan Cleary, 19, was arrested in Wickford, Essex. Police have not identified him.
Make your mind up BBC - is he a "teenager" or a "man" aged 19 ?
Scotland Yard said the raid followed a series of distributed denial of service attacks.
It comes days after hackers from a group called Lulz Security (LulzSec) attacked a number of websites both in Britain and the United States.
Scotland Yard would not say if Tuesday's raid was connected to LulzSec but said it had been a "pre-planned, intelligence-led" operation.
However, BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the Metropolitan Police's e-crimes unit had confirmed the raid was linked to the recent intrusion attacks on the websites of the CIA and Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca).
It says the teenager's computer was being examined for data linked to Sony, which recently came under cyber attack.
Mr Cleary was arrested under the Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act and is being questioned at a central London police station.
Earlier a Scotland Yard spokesman said: "The arrest follows an investigation into network intrusions and distributed denial of service attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group.
"Searches at a residential address in Wickford, Essex, following the arrest last night, have led to the examination of a significant amount of material. These forensic examinations remain ongoing."
Mr Cleary's mother spoke to BBC Essex and confirmed her son had been arrested at 0330 BST on Tuesday.
She said he had been obsessed with computers since he was 12 and added: "Computers were his world."
It is one of the more disgraceful aspects of the mainstream and tabloid media, that they "name and shame" people who have been merely arrested, but who have not yet actually been charged with any offence and who may never charged or convicted of anything i.e. before the sub judice contempt of court rules apply.
What happened to the principle of "innocent until proven guilty" ?
Why did the BBC send a tv satellite outside broadcast van around to the family home in Wickford, Essex and broadcast voyeuristic pictures of it around the world ?
See this Teenager arrested on suspicion of hacking video clip, which was broadcast repeatedly by BBC televeison news, around the world.
Note the BBC satellite Outside Broadcast van
The number plate of this parked car is clearly visible in the broadcast, although it probably has nothing to do with the house and the alleged computer hacker. - this is "guilt through association".
What genuine news value is there in the slow pan across all three upper floor bedroom windows ?
Are the BBC complicit in police / government harassment and intimidation, or are they just uncaringly voyeuristic, or both ?
For what it is worth, the inherently untrustworthy @LulzSec Twitter feed claims that :
Clearly the UK police are so desperate to catch us that they've gone and arrested someone who is, at best, mildly associated with us. Lame.
7:54PM June 21st 2011@superbus We use Ryan's server, we also use Efnet, 2600, Rizon and AnonOps IRC
servers. That doesn't mean they're all part of our group.
7:53 PM June 21st 2011Ryan Cleary is not part of LulzSec; we house one of our many legitimate chatrooms on his IRC server, but that's it. youtube.com/watch?v=Jf7iBS...
7:48PM June 21st 2011
Will the UK Police actually charge and prosecute Ryan Cleary, or will this become Yet Another Extradition to the USA saga, like that of Gary McKinnon ?
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