British police working with the FBI have arrested a man (19) over attacks by the Lulz Security hacking group on the websites of the CIA, US Senate, Sony and others.
The man was arrested last night at a house in Wickford, Essex, over allegations of fraud and computer misuse. He is being questioned at a London police station, Scotland Yard said in a statement.
A police source said: "Yes, the arrest is in connection with the Lulz Security attacks. We believe this to be a significant arrest."
The Lulz Security hacker group has claimed responsibility for a month-long campaign on targets that also include Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency, which was attacked yesterday.
Separately, an online post claiming to be from the group said it has obtained all of the data from the recent UK census, which it says it will release publicly. "We have blissfully obtained records of every single citizen who gave their records to the security-illiterate UK government for the 2011 census," it read.
However, Lulz Security denied involvement on a Twitter account known to be linked to the organisation.
"Seems the glorious leader of LulzSec got arrested, it's all over now... wait... we're all still here!" it tweeted.
"[We're] not sure we claimed to hack the UK census or where that rumour started," it said, warning users that anyone could pretend to represent the organisation online. "If someone out there hacked the UK government in the name of [the movement], well done sirs!"
A statement on the UK Census website said: "We are aware of the suggestion that census data has been accessed. We are working with our security advisers and contractors to establish whether there is any substance to this."