A British teenager arrested as part of an investigation into cyber-attacks in Britain and the United States has been charged with five offences of hacking websites.

Ryan Cleary, 19, was charged with a cyber-attack on Monday on Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), the same day he was arrested at his family's home in Wickford, Essex.

His arrest was linked to a series of cyber-attacks by a group called LulzSec, which investigators believe had targeted websites including ones belonging to the US Central Intelligence Agency, the US Senate and the electronics giant Sony.

Cleary was charged over cyber-attacks against British-based targets. The investigation into whether he is involved in any other attacks, including ones outside the UK, is continuing.

The Metropolitan police said Cleary had been charged with three specific attacks – on the London based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in November 2010, the British Phonographic Industry in October 2010, as well as on Soca.

The method he is alleged to have used is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack against all three websites. He was also charged with constructing a botnet, a network of infected computers that can be used remotely to direct attacks.

In a statement, police said Cleary "did conspire with other person or persons unknown to conduct unauthorised modification of computers by constructing and distributing a computer program to form a network of computers (a botnet) modified and configured to conduct Distributed Denial of Service attacks"

The final charge against him alleges Cleary "made, adapted, supplied or offered to supply an article, namely a botnet, intending that it should be used to commit, or to assist in the commission of, an offence".

The Metropolitan police said: "A 19-year-old man has this afternoon been charged with offences under the Criminal Law Act and Computer Misuse Act by officers from the Metropolitan police service's police central e-crime unit (PCeU)."

Scotland Yard cyber crime detectives spent Tuesday and Wednesday questioning Cleary over the attacks carried out by the LulzSec group, which mostly targeted websites belonging to institutions and companies in the US.

Computer equipment seized from his home was examined to see if it contained evidence linking him to the attacks.

Cleary will appear at City of Westminster magistrates court on Thursday morning.

The events leading to the arrest of Cleary involved an investigation by British police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI's involvement, plus the nature of the targets, raised the prospect that Washington may seek the teenager's extradition to the US.

Richard Heatley from the Crown Prosecution Services's Complex Casework Unit said: "We have today advised the Metropolitan Police Service to charge Ryan Cleary with one offence of conspiracy to contravene the provisions of the Computer Misuse Act 1990, three offences of committing an unauthorised act with intent contrary to Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and one offence of making, supplying or obtaining articles for use in an offence under Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 contrary to Section 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

"This follows the arrest of Ryan Cleary in relation to suspected commission of offences contrary to the Computer Misuse Act. The decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors."

The activities of LulzSec have highlighted the power of cyber criminals to cause disruption and damage.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said: "The challenges around cyber crime are extraordinarily significant and deeply worrying."

Separately, the Office for National Statistics has confirmed that the British census was not hacked.

Government officials decided to launch an investigation into claims that information about tens of millions of Britons had been stolen by LulzSec.

Glen Watson, the census director, said in a statement: "I can reassure the public that their census records are secure. We have strict measures in place protecting the nation's census information."

LulzSec denied that it attempted to steal census data after an apparent admission from the group appeared online.

Watson added: "The claim that hackers got in looks like a hoax and our investigation concluded that there is no sign of any suspicious activity. The alleged hackers have also denied any involvement.

"However, we are not complacent and will remain vigilant. The security and confidentiality of census data remain our top priority."