LulzSec’s spokesman and hacktivist “Topiary” arrested
Elena Vnorovscaia / Chişinău / Moldova.ORG / -- Scotland Yard announced Wednesday that it had arrested a 19-year-old founder of the infamous hacker group LulzSec.
The suspect supposedly goes by the Internet handle "Topiary" took part in a number of high-profile operations, both with LulzSec and the nebulous Anonymous collective. Topiary had served as the most vocal member of the hacker group LulzSec, and is widely believed to have been the voice behind the group’s irreverent Twitter feed, announcing the group’s exploits and linking to its troves of stolen information.
Topiary was named as the LulzSec spokesperson numerous times by several groups trying to gain information on the team. He was said to be involved with the attacks on HBGary, Westboro Baptist church, Gawker, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, several government websites and the world's biggest companies, including Sony, Nintendo, News Corp. and PBS.
In a video interview earlier this year in which his face was hidden, he debated with a representative of Westboro Baptist Church, and took down the Church’s website during the live appearance.
The young hacktivist was captured in a home in the Shetland Islands off the northeast coast of Great Britain, and taken to London for questioning.
LulzSec came out of early retirement last week in order to carry out an attack on Rupert Murdoch's News International. The group first hacked a website belonging to the Sun, a Murdoch-owned British tabloid, and planted a false story about the Australian media magnate's death. The story stated that Murdoch "stumbled into his famous topiary garden," an allusion to the arrested hacker, who claimed he wrote the piece.
Topiary’s final tweet, on his personal Twitter account, read “You cannot arrest an idea.” Contacts within Anonymous suggest Topiary has not been seen online for several days.
Last week British police said they had arrested another U.K. member of LulzSec who goes by the name Tflow, a 16-year old male. At least four other core members, including one leading member of the group who uses the handle Sabu, have yet to be detained.
The FBI have previously arrested 16 people in the U.S.
Comments