Australian Lulzsec hacker arrested by Federal police in Sydney
A Sydney IT worker has been arrested by Australian Federal Police who has claimed to be a high-level member of the hacking group Lulzsec.
Australian Federal Police Commander Glen McEwen
He has been arrested in connection with allegations of attacking and defacing a government website. Police said he has been charged with two counts of unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorised access to, or modification of, restricted data.
The LulzSec group is affiliated with worldwide hacking group Anonymous, who earlier this week wiped billions of US stock market values by hacking the Twitter feed of the Associated Press, and tweeting that two bombs had gone off at the White House, injuring President Obama.
Australian Federal Police Superintendent Brad Marden said the man, who has not been named, hacked into an Australian government website and defaced it earlier this month.
Australian Federal Police Commander Glen McEwen said the man claimed to be the Australian leader of LulzSec.
"This individual was operating from a position of trust who had access to sensitive information from clients including government agencies," McEwen said.
"The AFP believes this man's skill sets and access to this type of information presented a considerable risk for Australian society."
He is expected to appear in court next month.