Tuesday, 6 March 2012








A man has been arrested in connection with an international operation which saw five members of Anonymous and an offshoot hacking group charged in the US.



A masked hacker, part of the Anonymous group, hacks the French presidential Elysee Palace website on 20 January





A man has been arrested in Dublin in connection with an international operation which saw five members of Anonymous and an offshoot computer hacking group charged in the US.


"Working with international colleagues as part of ongoing investigations into computer hacking, a male was arrested this morning," a spokesman for the gardaí said.


"He is currently detained in Terenure Garda Station", said the spokesman, adding that the suspect could be held for questioning for 24 hours without charge.


A source said the man was held in connection with charges filed against five people in the United States.


Five members of Anonymous and an offshoot hacking group have been charged in the US with taking part in a computer hacking conspiracy.


"They are part of Anonymous or members of associated groups," the official said, adding that one of the five charged has pleaded guilty.


US network Fox News is reporting two men from Britain, two from Ireland and an American would be charged in an indictment to be unsealed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.


According to Fox News, a leader of Anonymous-affiliated hacking group Lulz Security has been secretly cooperating with the US authorities.


Fox News said the leader of Lulz Security, Hector Xavier Monsegur of New York, known by the Internet alias "Sabu," has been working for the government for months.


28-year-old Monsegur was arrested in June, pleaded guilty in August to 12 hacking-related charges and began cooperating with the FBI, Fox said.


Lulz Security, or LulzSec, has claimed responsibility over the past year for attacking the websites of the Central Intelligence Agency, the US Senate, Sony, the Arizona Department of Public Safety and others.