Update 3: Lulzsec, still very much active on Twitter, are denying that the arrested man is one of their members, though rumour is he did help run their IRC channel.

Update 2: Now the BBC are saying that the 19-year-old hacker arrested has been named by locals of Wickford as Ryan Cleary. The same Ryan Cleary who was embroiled in a spat with Anonymous over their “leadership”structure and operations against Sony. It was thought Cleary had created a splinter group from Anonymous but whether or not that group is Lulzsec isn’t known.



Update: Metropolitan Police have now confirmed that the arrest was in connection with the attack on the SOCA website, according to Develop. But they also said, “we will examine the individual for any Sony data” confirming that the suspect is also being investigated for the Playstation Network hack.

LulzSec are, you’ll no doubt have noticed, the hacker collective who have spent several weeks making life difficult for a number of firms across the globe – including many gaming companies. The likes of Eve Online, Minecraft and League of Legends found themselves temporarily offline following DDoS attacks which LulzSec claimed responsibility for. Lately, they targeted government organisations such as the FBI, CIA and the UK government website for SOCA and seemed to think they remained one step of head of whatever law enforcement might or might not be pursuing them.

Well, moments ago a 19-year-old man from Essex, UK was arrested by Britain’s Police Central e-Crime Unit, allegedly in connection with Lulzsec.

Scotland Yard have confirmed an arrest “on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act, and Fraud Act offences” following “an investigation into network intrusions and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group.”

The FBI apparently assisted in the arrest. The man has a home in Wickford, Essex, which has been searched and computer equipment confiscated.

There is no official statement that this is indeed related to Lulzsec’s escalating security incursions, but the description of the suspected actions certainly sounds familiar. Security firm Sophos have also cited speculation that the man is connected to Lulzsec investigations – but again, nothing is confirmed at present.