Image: Jyrki Lyytikkä / Yle

Finnish police have interviewed the 17-year-old who rose to notoriety at Christmas when he told British media he had been part of a group that brought down the Playstation and Xbox networks. They have not arrested or detained him, contrary to reports in the Washington Post.

The ‘Lizard Squad’ collective, which says it was behind the attacks, had tweeted that the Finland-based hacker had been detained.

Chief Inspector Tero Muurman of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) told Yle that reports “Ryan” had been detained were wide of the mark. He had been interviewed at the start of the week, but then released.

On Wednesday Muurman had said that the investigation was in its early stages, but that “Ryan” was suspected of aggravated data crimes, but denied involvement. Finnish police are continuing their probe and co-operating closely with the FBI, according to Muurman.

As the crimes would have been committed in Finland, Finnish police have the authority to investigate any suspects themselves.