Man held in connection with Sony and Xbox hack bailed Published duration 17 January 2015

An 18-year-old man arrested in a joint British and FBI-led operation following cyber attacks on Sony PlayStation and Xbox systems has been released on bail.

The man was arrested in Southport, near Liverpool, on suspicion of unauthorised access to computer material on Friday.

He was also detained for alleged unauthorised access with intent to commit further offences and threats to kill, officers said.

Microsoft and Sony were attacked on Christmas Day.

The distributed-denial-of-service attack - which floods servers, causing them to stop working - caused major disruptions and made it hard for users to log on.

The arrest was part of a joint operation between officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (Serocu) and the North West Regional Crime Unit (Rocu), supported by the National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU).

A Serocu spokesman said: "An 18-year-old man arrested for 'swatting' and denial of service offences has been released on bail."