Ryan Cleary and his solicitor Karen Todner

Karen Todner, attorney for the 19-year-old Briton Ryan Cleary who was arrested last year for his involvement in LulzSec hackings has verified to the press that her client is back in custody. Cleary broke the terms of his bail and accessed the internet to communicate with American LulzSec leader Hector Xavier Monsegur over Christmas. One message might be a holiday greeting, multiple ones are harder to explain.

Cleary was re-arrested by London’s Metropolitan Police on March 5. On March 6, the FBI announced taht Monsegur, known on-line as Sabu, has been working with them as an informant. Sorry about that, Cleary. Cleary is now being held, with no chance of new bail, at Chelmsford Prison, 35 miles northeast of London. He is due to appear in Court in May.

LulzSec, which is short of Lulz Security, said it was doing its hacking for the fun of it. Among their targets have been Fox News, the BBC, PBS, ATMs in the United Kingdom, Sony Pictures Playstation 3, Black & Berg Cybersecurity Consulting, pornography sites, Facebook, Bethesda Game Sudios, Minecraft, League of Legends, The Escapist and EVE Online websites, S2 Games Heroes of Newerth server (they left Nintendo alone because they “like the N64 too much”) They hacked millions of user files and passwords. They also went after the British National Health Service, the United States Senate and the Pentagon, the Bank of Portugal and some Portugese government ministries.

In co-ordinated strikes, Scotland Yard and the FBI arrested several members of Lulzsec last year. Cleary was one of the more high-profile arrests in part because of his age. It turned out that most Lulzsec members were young adults. Lulzsec in some ways damaged Anonymous. By claiming an affiliation and then going after game sites and pulling childish pranks, harming innocent bystanders instead of the governments and corporations that Anonymous goes after, Lulzsec made Anonymous look less serious and committed to disclosure of government secrets for the benefit of the world. LulzSec’s activities have set of something of a cyberwar among hackers, while law enforcement in several countries are trying to pick their way through the chaos.

Related articles

• Top members of hacking group LulzSec arrested (content.usatoday.com)
• LulzSec hackers not “anonymous today,” says official (cbsnews.com)
• Hector Xavier Monsegur: LulzSec leader, FBI informant, and cyberpunk antihero (theverge.com)
• LulzSec Leaders No Longer Anonymous After Arrests Worldwide [Lulzsec] (kotaku.com)
• LulzSec’s Alleged Ringleader Helps FBI in Hacker Arrests (pcworld.com)
• LulzSec leader Sabu turns FBI snitch, reportedly gives up five top hackers (venturebeat.com)
• LulzSec Claims Comeback With Dating Site Hack (gizmodo.com.au)
• Cops swoop on top LulzSec hackers, including two Brits (thesun.co.uk)