A TEENAGER suspected of being the spokesman for two internationalhacking groups which have wreaked havoc across the world has beenarrested by Scotland Yard officers in a swoop on the NorthernIsles.The 18-year-old was arrested yesterday in Shetland by officersfrom the Metropolitan Police Service's central e-crime unit as partof an investigation into hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec.Thegroups of so-called "hacktivists" are linked to a series of high-profile computer-hacking operations and "cyber terrorist" attacks inrecent months against targets said to have included the CIA.Thearrest of the unnamed teenager was announced late yesterdayafternoon by the Metropolitan Police following a carefully plannedoperation on Shetland assisted by detectives from the Scottish Crimeand Drug Enforcement Agency.The teenager was taken into custody atan undisclosed address on Shetland and was last night being flown toLondon for questioning. His home was still being searched lastnight.In a separate operation in England, a 17-year-old was beingquestioned by officers from the cyber crime unit following a raid ona house in Lincolnshire.A Met spokesman said: "Officers from theMetropolitan Police Service's Police Central e-Crime Unit [PCeU]today arrested an 18-year-old man in a pre-planned intelligence-ledoperation."The man arrested is believed to be linked to an ongoinginternational investigation into the criminal activity of the so-called 'hacktivist' groups Anonymous and LulzSec, and uses theonline nickname 'Topiary' which is presented as the spokesperson forthe groups."He was arrested at an address in the Shetland Islandsand is currently being transported to a police station in centralLondon. A search is ongoing at the address."The spokesman continued:"A residential address in Lincolnshire is also being searched. A 17-year-old male is being interviewed under caution in connection withthe inquiry. He has not been arrested."Today's operation is linkedto PCeU's ongoing investigation into network intrusions anddistributed denial of service attacks against a number ofinternational business and intelligence agencies by what is believedto be the same hacking group."It was carried out with the assistanceof the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency and LincolnshireConstabulary."Yesterday's police operation on Shetland follows thearrest earlier this week of a 16-year-old in south London also saidto be linked to the activities of Anonymous and LulzSec. The 16-year-old has been arrested under the Computer Misuse Act.LulzSecannounced it was disbanding last month.The group stated: "We mustnow sail into the distance, leaving behind - we hope - inspiration,fear, denial, happiness, approval, disapproval, mockery,embarrassment, thoughtfulness, jealousy, hate, even love. Ifanything, we hope we had a microscopic impact on someone,somewhere."LulzSec has previously claimed responsibility forattempted hacking operations made on the Serious Organised CrimeAgency in Britain, the CIA's public website, the US Senate and theSun newspaper.The internet "hacktivist" group known as Anonymous hasalso been linked with cyber attacks against consumer electronicsgiant Sony and banking groups Visa and MasterCard. The attacks aresaid to be linked to "Operation Payback", a series of attacks wherea company's internet servers have been flooded with traffic in a bidto bring its website down.These attacks have been staged in protestagainst the action taken against WikiLeaks by various companiesworldwide following the internet release of US government secretdocuments and diplomatic reports.Anonymous, according to somereports, has been engaged in "hacktivism" since 2003.One website,devoted to reports of cyber attacks and the activities of variousgroups, alleges: "Topiary is a hacktivist and self-described'supporter of anonymous operations, Wiki- Leaks, and maintainingfreedom on the internet' and is heavily involved within the internetgroup Anonymous."The posting continues: "On 24 February, 2011,Topiary appeared on the David Pakman Show and successfully replaceda Westboro Baptist Church webpage with a message from Anonymousduring an on-air confrontation with Shirley Phelps-Roper. Arecording of this event was placed on YouTube, where it quickly wentviral, reaching just over one million views in five days."The newsof the arrest of the 18-year-old surprised islanders.Shetlandcouncillor Jonathan Wills said: "I know nothing at all. I can't makeany comment because I haven't heard a thing."Another resident onShetland, who did not wish to be named, said: "You would thinksomething like this would be all over Shetland but no-one I know hasheard a peep."Glasgow-born Gary McKinnon, who suffers fromAsperger's syndrome, a form of autism, is fighting extradition toAmerica over allegations of hacking into US military computers. Headmits breaking into systems including those of Nasa and thePentagon, but says he was seeking evidence ofUFOs.AnonymousAnonymous first made headlines last December when the"hacking collective" took action in support of WikiLeaks founderJulian Assange - attacking the websites of companies like Visa,MasterCard and PayPal in protest at their decision to sever ties toWikiLeaks.LulzsecThe hacking collective is alleged to have beenbehind an attempt to redirect visitors to the Sun's website to afake story claiming Rupert Murdoch had been found dead.They alsoclaimed to have obtained e-mails from the Sun's servers but laterrefused to release them.
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