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LulzSec hacker attacks 'deeply worrying', says police chief

Sir Paul Stephenson describes arrest of 19-year-old Ryan Cleary as 'very significant'

Britain's top policeman has described online attacks by the computer hacking group LulzSec as "extraordinarily significant and deeply worrying" following the arrest of an Essex teenager believed to have been a "significant" figure in the escalating cyberwar.


The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, on Wednesday described the arrest of Ryan Cleary, 19, as "very significant".


The teenager was arrested at his family home in Wickford, Essex on Tuesday as part of an international attempt to tighten the net around the hacker group LulzSec.


LulzSec have attacked the websites of the CIA, the US senate, US broadcasters and, on Monday, the day of Cleary's arrest, the hackers bought down the website of Britain's Serious and Organised Crime Agency (Soca).


Stephenson declined to comment on the details of Cleary's arrest, but said: "It's a very significant arrest."


He added: "The challenges around cyber crime are extraordinarily significant and deeply worrying."


Sources close to LulzSec said Cleary, who is still being held for questioning at a central London police station, is "well known" on the internet messageboards where the group co-ordinate attacks, but claimed that he was not actively involved in assaults on other websites.


According to one source, Cleary was "just the host" of an internet chatroom – known as internet relay chat (IRC) – used by the group. "No way is he capable of pulling off what LulzSec are doing," the source added.


Clearly becomes the sixth British person to be arrested in connection with the recent spate of attacks on websites. Five people, aged 15 to 26, were arrested and had their computers and mobile phones seized in January on suspicion of being involved in the notorious hacking group Anonymous. The Guardian understands that none of the suspects have yet been charged.


Earlier this month, LulzSec declared its intention to break into government websites and leak confidential documents. Yesterday it dismissed claims it had staged an attack on the British census.


The information commissioner's office, which investigates data breaches such as the one claimed on the British census, said it had been in contact with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) about the claims, but that it had not yet been passed evidence of any breach. The ONS said it was still investigating.