An 18-year-old man from Southport has been arrested as part of a police investigation into the attacks on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network over Christmas. Police said the man had been arrested under the computer misuse act.

The man, who is yet to be named, was arrested on Boundary Street, Southport in a joint-operation between the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) and the FBI. Police said the arrest was made in connection with distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks "launched from the UK." A number of electronic devices were also seized for examination.

Both Xbox Live and PSN were taken down for long periods over Christmas after a major DDOS attack was launched. Hacking group Lizard Squad claimed responsibility, having also claimed to be behind attacks on both networks earlier in 2014.

Police said the arrest was also related to swatting, whereby hoax calls are made to police reporting a major incident, often resulting in SWAT teams being dispatched. In August last year an American Airlines flight carrying a Sony executive was grounded after a tweet from Lizard Squad claimed explosives were on-board.

Craig Jones, head of the cybercrime unit at SEROCU said the investigation into the attacks was still in its early stages and that work with the FBI was ongoing.

This story originally appeared on Wired UK.