The hacking group LulzSec may have just lost its mouthpiece.
U.K. police say they've arrested LulzSec's spokesman, known as "Topiary," from a residential address in the Shetland Islands. The 19-year-old man, whose real name was not revealed, is being transported to London, and a search is ongoing at his address, Slashgear reports.
Police also say they're searching the Lincolnshire residence of a 17-year-old male in a related case, but haven't made an arrest.
LulzSec is known as much for its numerous hacks on government agencies and corporations as it is for bravado. The group maintains an active Twitter account and issued press releases to brag about its latest hacking feats. Topiary was believed to be at the helm of these publicity efforts.
But lately, LulzSec has faded from the spotlight. Shortly after rival hackers released a trove of information that supposedly gave away the identities of several LulzSec members, the group announced that it was ending its hacking campaign. LulzSec did, however, return to take part in hacking News Corp. alongside with a larger group called Anonymous. (Anonymous also saw 14 of its own alleged members arrested last week.)
Arrest Details
Police announced the arrest of Topiary just hours after Anonymous and LulzSec called for a boycott of PayPal due to its withholding of funds from WikiLeaks. LulzSec's Twitter account has not been updated since about seven hours ago, when it denounced PayPal in a series of posts.
There's just one discrepancy about this arrest worth noting: In documents released last month that claimed to expose LulzSec members, Topiary is listed as living in Sweden under the name Daniel Ackerman Sandberg. That obviously conflicts with police's arrest of a man in the Shetland Islands. Surely it won't be long before LulzSec responds with its side of the story.
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