Arrested LulzSec suspect is ex-Anonymous member

The teenager arrested in Essex today in connection with LulzSec's widespread digital attacks is an ex-member of PSN hacking group Anonymous.

UK national newspapers have named 19-year-old Ryan Cleary as the arrested party.

Cleary gained notoriety amongst the hacking community in May, after disassociating himself with former allies Anonymous - before launching an IRC attack on the AnonOps messageboards.

"We regret to inform you today that our network has been compromised by a former IRC-operator and fellow helper named 'Ryan'," a post on the AnonOps site said at the time.

Anonymous accused Cleary of stealing passwords and targeting its network servers.

"This is not a joke, this isn't a lie, this is the truth and we are sorry for that," the post added.

A subsequent update from Anonymous reportedly revealed Cleary's full name, address and phone numbers.

Cleary, from Wickford, Essex, later told tech site Thinq that he and allies had formed a new splinter group in protest at Anonymous - and how "centralised and PR-hungry" Anon-Ops leaders had become.

He said that hacking into the Anonymous system was "regrettable but necessary", adding: "The only way to make things safe is to make users aware how insecure it is."

Anonymous hit the gaming headlines in April after being linked to the PSN attack that left Sony's flagship online gaming service down for almost four weeks. However, the group denied responsibility for the main "intrusion".

Fellow hacking group LulzSec has also turned its ire on Sony, attacking Sony Pictures and Sony BMG Japan, Belgium and the Netherlands. Other high-profile targets have included Bethesda, EVE Online and Minecraft's servers.

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