US News

Five suspected ‘Anonymous’ hackers arrested in Europe

LONDON — A British teenager and four people in The Netherlands were arrested as part of an FBI-led operation into computer hacking, including the notorious groups Anonymous and LulzSec.

The 16-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday at an address in south London by members of the Metropolitan Police’s E-Crime unit after a joint operation with the FBI and authorities in The Netherlands.

The teenager, who goes by the online user name Tflow, according to Fox News, remained in custody in a central London police station on suspicion of breaching the Computer Misuse Act. He is suspected of being linked to the LulzSec hacker group and the larger Anonymous collective.

According to Dutch media reports, the four people arrested in The Netherlands are also said to be involved in Anonymous, which claimed responsibility for numerous cyber attacks against a variety of websites, including Visa and MasterCard.

The Netherlands’ public prosecutor said that the individuals being held are aged 17, 18, 25 and 35 and belong to the hacker group AntiSecNL, a splinter group of Anonymous, according to De Telegraaf.

Sixteen suspected members of Anonymous also were arrested Tuesday in raids across the US. The Department of Justice said that more than 35 search warrants were executed in the case, which stemmed from Anonymous’ alleged cyber attack on PayPal’s website over its suspension of WikiLeaks’ account so that it could no longer receive donations through PayPal.

Fourteen of the arrests were identified in the same indictment out of California, while two others were arrested in separate criminal complaints filed out of courts in Newark, N.J., and Tampa, Fla., the Justice Department said.

The individuals arrested in the US included both men and women aged from 20 to 42. Their real names and online nicknames were also released by the FBI, including monikers such as “Toxic,” “Reaper,” “Anthrophobic” and “Absolem.”

Last month, police in London arrested Ryan Cleary, 19, on suspicion of organizing online attacks after a joint operation by Scotland Yard and the FBI. Subsequent sweeps through Italy and Switzerland in early July led to the arrests of 15 more people between the ages of 15 and 28.