Police Arrest Senior Member of Anonymous

Scotland Yard is claiming that they have arrested a big player in the hacking group Anonymous. The 19-year-old man, who police believe is Topiary from LulzSec, is being transported to a central London police station for questioning.

Scotland Yard said in a statement:

“The man arrested is believed to be linked to an ongoing international investigation into the criminal activity of the so-called ‘hacktivist’ groups Anonymous and LulzSec, and uses the online nickname ‘Topiary,’ which is presented as the spokesperson for the groups. He was arrested at a residential address in the Shetland Islands and is currently being transported to a police station in central London. A search is ongoing at the address.”

Anonymous and LulzSec claim to be an amorphous, leaderless group, but authorities have long  believed that a half dozen or so hackers are responsible for the majority of the hacking activity.

The Telegraph reports that Anonymous and Lulsec have targeted the CIA, PayPal, Sony, and News International in recent months.

Authorities around the world are trying to track down members of Anonymous. Last week, the FBI arrested more than a dozen people suspected to have ties to the hacking group.  Scotland Yard is currently searching a home in Lincolnshire and questioning a 17-year-old about his involvement in Anonymous. Cnet reports that the 17-year-old has not been arrested.

Topiary’s Twitter account has been inactive for the last few weeks, and most of his tweets have been deleted. But one tweet remains:

“You cannot arrest an idea.”