19-year-old accused of being a “major player” in LulzSec Hacker Group

[youallhumsup]

Teenage loner held over global 'hacking'

A teenage “recluse” who lives with his mother in Essex was being questioned by police last night on suspicion of masterminding an international computer hacking group.

The Lulzsec logo. The hacker group has been implicated in several security breaches in recent months.

The property on South Beech Avenue, Wickford, Essex, where Ryan Cleary was arrested Photo: PA

By Gordon Rayner, Martin Evans and Christopher Williams
12:51AM BST 22 Jun 2011

Ryan Cleary, the 19-year-old son of a college lecturer, is accused of being a “major player” in LulzSec, which has been linked with attacks on computers belonging to the police, the US Senate and the CIA.

He was held in a raid at his family home in Wickford following a joint investigation between Scotland Yard and the FBI, which was also aimed at finding the hackers who breached security at the games firms Sony and Nintendo.

It was alleged last night that Mr Cleary was online in the middle of hacking when he was held. The arrest came hours after an anonymous internet user claiming to be from LulzSec threatened to publish the entire 2011 census database, though this was later dismissed as a hoax.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said a “significant amount of material” had been seized from Mr Cleary’s family home by officers from its specialist e-crime unit, and would now be subjected to forensic examination.

Mr Cleary’s family expressed disbelief that the self-confessed computer “nerd” had anything to do with hacking. His mother Rita, 45, said her son “lives his life online” but she thought he had been playing computer games in his bedroom at the detached family home.

She added that, as he was led away by police, he told her he feared he would be extradited to America. His older brother Mitchell, 22, said: “Ryan is obsessed with computers. That’s all he ever did. I was stunned to hear he had been arrested.”

Mr Cleary’s father Neil, 44, worked as musical director on the West End production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Starlight Express. He later became a lecturer at Peterborough Regional College in Cambridgeshire and director of its orchestra.

Nick Stamford, a former classmate of Ryan Cleary, said: “He used to spend a lot of time at home and that is when I think he got into computers. He was quite bright but he didn’t really have too many friends.”

LulzSec has emerged in recent weeks as a rival to the hacking group Anonymous, which targeted banks that had refused to process donations to the WikiLeaks website.

The organisation claimed credit for hacking into the accounts of Sony PlayStation users. On Monday it bombarded the website of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency with so much internet traffic it had to be taken offline.

Mr Cleary’s arrest is likely to lead to comparisons with the case of Gary McKinnon, the 45-year-old Briton fighting extradition to the United States, where he could face 60 years in jail if convicted of hacking into Pentagon and Nasa computers.


http://www.lulzsecurity.com/

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[youallhumsup]

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Lulzsec claims UK Census Data hacked, british government, census 2011 news.
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[youallhumsup]

Serious Organised Crime Agency takes down website after hacking attack

Soca took down site on Monday after being targeted with distributed denial of service attack by hacking group LulzSec

guardian.co.uk, <time datetime="2011-06-21T10:32BST" pubdate="">Tuesday 21 June 2011 10.32 BST </time>

The Serious Organised Crime Agency website was taken down late on Monday.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), the UK national law enforcement unit dubbed the 'British FBI', has been forced to take its website offline after an attack by the computer hacking group, LulzSec.

Soca took down its website late on Monday after it was targeted with a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack by the notorious internet group. The website was still down early on Tuesday but was back in service later in the morning.

It is thought to be the first time a British law enforcement website has been crippled by the group, which has previously attacked sites belonging to the US Senate, the CIA, as well as the games firms Nintendo and Sony.

In a message posted on Twitter on Monday, LulzSec said: "Tango down – soca.gov.uk – in the name of #AntiSec." The group later added: "DDoS is of course our least powerful and most abundant ammunition. Government hacking is taking place right now behind the scenes. #AntiSec."

Early on Tuesday, LulzSec warned that it would step up the attacks by hacking in to government websites and stealing confidential documents. "Our next step is to categorise and format leaked items we acquire and release them in #AntiSec 'payloads' on our website and The Pirate Bay," the group posted on Twitter.

A spokesman for Soca, the government agency that draws on expertise from the police, immigration and revenue and customs to investigate organised crime including drugs and people trafficking, said its website was taken offline to "limit the impact" of the attack.

He added: "The Soca website is a source of information for the general public which is hosted by an external provider. It is not linked to our operational material or the data we hold."

Having established itself as a formidable splinter group to Anonymous, the hacking group embroiled in the WikiLeaks fallout, LulzSec has recently declared its intention to break into government websites and leak confidential documents. "Prime targets are banks and other high-ranking establishments," the group has said.

The group initially only targeted US broadcasters, including PBS and Fox, and gaming firms, most notably Sony and Nintendo.

 

[no_faith]

honest speaking, i admire this 19 years old chap. equip wif brains to hack into highly secured servers.

how about our local 19 years old? Q-ing up Koi?

 

[karmabear]

honest speaking, i admire this 19 years old chap. equip wif brains to hack into highly secured servers. how about our local 19 years old? Q-ing up Koi?

What about you? KPKB on a forum... How does that compare to our local 19 year old?

 

[no_faith]

What about you? KPKB on a forum... How does that compare to our local 19 year old?

u also kpkb on the forum. tis forum not for kpkb?
i admire one talent also cannot?

y so defensive?

 

[Rogue Trader]

When I took a break from posting in this forum last night and went downstairs to smoke at the hotel lobby, I met a couple of computer consultants at the smoking corner. Turns out they are consultants in the computer security field in town for a conference. One of them warned me about mobile connection and identity theft.

He told me he attended an AusCERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) conference and there was a hacking demo done live by a 17 year old "security consultant". The guy was asked to access his facebook via wifi... then less than 2 minutes later, the kid showed him his own facebook account ID, password, work ID, work email. The guy was in shock.

I wanted to share with him our very own Allen Chen story but decided it was not as exciting as his

 

[scroobal]

The websites hacked are not the "Highly secured" sites or network but the public websites or the face of the organisation. Their internal network were not compromised. Sony and nintendo don't consider their sites as high security and frankly nothing of importance but credit card and personal details. That is why he was picked up so quickly.

honest speaking, i admire this 19 years old chap. equip wif brains to hack into highly secured servers.

how about our local 19 years old? Q-ing up Koi?

 

[no_faith]

The websites hacked are not the "Highly secured" sites or network but the public websites or the face of the organisation. Their internal network were not compromised. Sony and nintendo don't consider their sites as high security and frankly nothing of importance but credit card and personal details. That is why he was picked up so quickly.

oh ic but he does have some substance to hack in.

 

[youallhumsup]

'Cyber terrorist targeted CIA from Essex bungalow': Teenager held as mother says he rarely left his bedroom

• 19-year-old man is suspected of leading the notorious Lulz Security hacking group

• LulzSec tweeted it did NOT hack into Britain's census information as one website claimed

By Rebecca Camber, Colin Fernandez and Lucy Collins

Last updated at 3:53 AM on 22nd June 2011

Arrested: Ryan Cleary, pictured here aged 13, is suspected of launching cyber attacks from his Essex bungalow

A British teenager is suspected of masterminding computer hacking attacks on the CIA, the U.S. Senate and Sony from his bedroom. Ryan Cleary, 19, was arrested at his family’s home in Essex in a dramatic swoop following a joint inquiry by Scotland Yard and the FBI.

He was held hours after the UK’s serious crime unit came under online siege from the hacking group known as LulzSec. The group recently declared on Twitter its intention to break into government websites and banks and leak confidential documents.

On Monday the Serious Organised Crime Agency – dubbed ‘Britain’s FBI’ – was forced to take its website off-line after hackers bombarded it.

Ryan, described as a loner who ‘lives his life online’, faces the prospect of extradition to the U.S. where he could face 60 years behind bars for allegedly hacking into the CIA and Senate websites.

Detectives believe he is a ‘major player’ with LulzSec, which has been linked to recent attacks on games firm Sony in which details and passwords of millions of users were accessed.

LulzSec has claimed its other victims include the NHS and Nintendo.

Ryan’s mother Rita, 44, said her son suffers from agoraphobia and attention deficit disorder and had not left his home for four years. She said he hardly ever left his dimly-lit bedroom which consisted of a computer with two monitors, a cooling unit, a broken TV, and a double bed.

Mrs Cleary who suffers from bipolar disorder said: ‘He is a complete recluse, he would only come out of his room to use the bathroom. I would have to leave his dinner outside his room door. ‘I don’t know how he would be coping with being dragged out of the house like this. He didn’t go out at all.’

Worry: Ryan Cleary's mum, Rita (right), said her son rarely left his bedroom

Latest victim: Hacker group Lulz Security has brought down the website of the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The FBI and Scotland Yard yesterday arrested a 19-year-old man in Wickford, Essex, on suspicion of being the group's ringleader

Ryan Cleary, 19, who lives in this house in Wickford, Essex, is accused of being a 'major player' within LulzSec

LulzSec wasted no time in claiming responsibility for Monday's Soca attack on its Twitter page

Warning: Family of hacking suspect Ryan Cleary are telling the press to stay away

The 19-year-old suffers from ADHD and Emotional Behavioural Disorder and was excluded from school for disruptive behaviour at the age of five.

Following a suicide attempt at the age of ten, Ryan was sent to special school in Colchester.

Speaking at the family’s home in Wickford, Mrs Cleary said he was an introverted boy, adding: ‘I’m really worried. He could seriously harm or even kill himself. He is incredibly intelligent but he has very complex needs.’

When questioned about what he was doing on the internet by his father Neil or his brother Mitchell, 22, the teenager told them: ‘I am just gaming’.

He is said to have constantly spoken in computer jargon and cybertalk, which his family were unable to understand. Ten police cars arrived at the house on Monday night and officers are said to have spent five hours talking to Ryan.

Apart from a mass of computer equipment, his bedroom was like that of many teenage boys with photographs of scantily-clad women on the walls. Another family member, who did not want to be identified, said: ‘He is a recluse and he never leaves the house.’

Ryan’s brother Mitchell said: ‘He is not the sort of person to do anything mad or go out and let his hair down or do anything violent. He stays in his room – you will be lucky if he opens the blinds.

‘I barely see him – I am more of a football person – he is more of an inside person.’ Neighbours said his father Neil is a musician who had played the tuba at the Royal Albert Hall, worked with names such as Andrew Lloyd Webber and once played at a private function for Princess Diana.

Last night Ryan, who uses the online name ViraL, was being questioned in a police station in central London under the Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act. A Scotland Yard spokesman said it was liaising closely with the FBI.

He added: ‘The arrest follows an investigation into network intrusions against international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group.

‘Searches at an address in Wickford, Essex, following the arrest last night have led to the examination of a significant amount of material.’ The arrest of a Briton in relation to hacking attempts in the U.S. will prompt comparisons with Gary McKinnon.

McKinnon, 45, who is battling extradition to the U.S., faces 60 years behind bars for hacking into Pentagon and Nasa computers between February 2001 and March 2002 while searching for ‘little green men’.

Last night the LulzSec group sought to distance itself from Ryan.
On Twitter, the group said: ‘Ryan Cleary is not part of LulzSec. We house one of our many legitimate chatrooms on his server, but that’s it.’

Ryan was first ‘outed’ online as a member of LulzSec in May by members of the rival hacker group Anonymous. Yesterday neighbours told of their shock at his arrest. One, James Rounce, said he presumed Ryan had been at university because he had not seen him for so long.

He added: ‘You could tell he was very bright just from the way he spoke and presented himself.‘I knew he was into computers because we would often take in parcels for him and when I asked about them his mother said he was working from home and it was something to do with IT.’

On the offensive: Lulz Security announced its operation to bring down high-profile websites on Twitter

WHO ARE LULZ SECURITY?

Lulz Security's rise to prominence has been extraordinarily fast. The hacking group first emerged in May and in the past few weeks has attacked the websites of some of the world's leading corporations and governments.

It is regularly abbreviated to LulzSec, which breaks down into two parts - Lulz refers to 'LOL' (laugh out loud), while Sec is short for security. The group specialises in locating websites with poor security and then stealing information from them and posting it online.

The attacks do not appear to be financially motivated - instead, LulzSec seems content to receive international recognition for embarrassing some of the world's largest companies.

Not all the attention has been negative, either, as some cyber experts have praised LulzSec for exposing the inadequacy of online defences without maliciously exploiting these weaknesses.

The first LulzSec attack on record took place against the Fox.com website in late April - the hackers gained access to emails and passwords of hundreds of employees. In a matter of weeks, the group has claimed responsibility for breaching the security of conglomerates including Nintendo, Sony, the NHS, the CIA and Soca.

 

[Received_by_Kings]

our local 19 years old? Q-ing up Koi?

Called up for national service after jc.

 

[Microsoft]

Ryan had a bright career with CIA...Dun nid any papers nor recommendation letter...

 

[youallhumsup]

Ryan had a bright career with CIA...Dun nid any papers nor recommendation letter...

Hi Bill,

Did you receive any email from LulzSec saying that your windoze 8 "Blue Edition" has been hacked and is circulating "underground"?

BTW do you know the meaning of "Blue Edition"? :p

 

[Microsoft]

Hi Bill,

Did you receive any email from LulzSec saying that your windoze 8 "Blue Edition" has been hacked and is circulating "underground"?

BTW do you know the meaning of "Blue Edition"? :p

U seriously think...oh well nebermind...:p:p

 

[karmabear]

u also kpkb on the forum. tis forum not for kpkb? i admire one talent also cannot? y so defensive?

No choice, since ivebert lost his balls, there has been no PAP dog to whack. So now i anyhow also bite... like machiam dog with rabies...

 

[ThugSin]

honest speaking, i admire this 19 years old chap. equip wif brains to hack into highly secured servers.

how about our local 19 years old? Q-ing up Koi?

our local 19 year old kids will do this and post on FB :oIo:

 

[ThugSin]

honest speaking, i admire this 19 years old chap. equip wif brains to hack into highly secured servers.

how about our local 19 years old? Q-ing up Koi?

our local 19 year old kids will do this and post on FB :oIo:

they will think "OO i so cool with gang signs.. look at me i from......" :oIo:

 

[youallhumsup]

Dressed in black, mother watches from gallery as teenage 'cyber hacker' son is accused of bringing down 'British FBI' site

• Magistrates give police three days to quiz Ryan Cleary over Soca hacking
  
• Lawyer, who also represents Gary McKinnon, says Cleary is 'vulnerable man
• Cleary faces up to 10 years in jail if convicted of British crimes
• U.S. may extradite him over after Senate and CIA sites were hacked into
  

By Rebecca Camber and Inderdeep Bains
Last updated at 12:44 AM on 24th June 2011

The mother of a teenager accused of hacking into the British equivalent of the FBI today told how she feared he would commit suicide as he appeared in court.

Rita Cleary, dressed in black, wore a pained expression as she watched magistrates remand her son Ryan, 19, in custody to allow police to quiz him about attacks on the CIA and U.S. Senate.

But Mrs Cleary, 45, fears her son, who was described by a ‘vulnerable young man, would attempt to kill himself if he was not granted bail soon.

In the dock: Cleary listened to proceedings at Westminister Magistrates Court as his mother Rita watches

Sullen: Ryan Cleary, looking pale and sporting stubble in a court sketch, appeared in front of magistrates today

Cleary is accused of hacking the UK’s Serious Organised Crime Agency. He appeared for the first time in public at the City of Westminster Magistrates Court after he was charged with five hacking offences.

The reclusive computer nerd is said to be ‘cooperating’ with Scotland Yard in their probe into LulzSec, a hacking group which has claimed responsibility for computer attacks on Soca website, the CIA, U.S. Senate, NHS and games firms, Sony and Nintendo.

Today the loner was remanded in custody for up to three days to allow detectives to question him about other alleged computer offences in America, which could result in him facing extradition.

But his mother Rita, 45, warned that any attempt to extradite him to the United States would be a death sentence for him. Today the alleged hacker, who suffers from agoraphobia, appeared anxious and frightened during the short hearing.

Back to the cells: A police officer drives a car believed to contain Cleary, as they leave the court

Just moments before he appeared in court, he warned his mother that he may attempt suicide. Mrs Cleary told the Mail: 'He said, ‘If I don't get out, you know what I'll do mum”.

'That's his way of telling me he'll kill himself. 'His threat is very real and I'm terrified of what will happen if he is not given bail.’ Cleary also told his mother that he had not slept and asked her to bring some detective crime novels, clothing and razorblades so he could shave.

During the hearing, his tearful mother waved to her son from the public gallery. Afterwards she said: 'It was a relief to finally see Ryan but it was clear he is not coping well.

'I'm very worried and anxious about what this is doing to his mental health. He is a very vulnerable person.

Concern: Rita Cleary, leaving court today, said Ryan, pictured at age 13, right, has threatened suicide in the past

Scrum: Mrs Cleary, centre, is helped to get through the crowd of media by police officers after the hearing

‘He seemed very frightened. I told him to cooperate with police as much as possible. ‘This is his worst nightmare. All he wants to do is go home. ‘He told me, “Can you look after my cat, I love you mum”.’

Lawyers are now pushing for an urgent medical assessment of the troubled youth. Yesterday District Judge Quentin Purdy granted police permission to continue questioning him at Charing Cross police station.

Officers will be keen to know whether he carried out attacks in the US and whether he can identify other hackers in the network. Ben Cooper, defending, said: 'The defendant is fully cooperating with the police and wishes to continue to assist the police.

'In those circumstances, I do not oppose the application for further questioning.

Baby: Ryan Cleary, aged two months, in his mother's arms, and, right, in a studio photo at the age of one

'In view of the ongoing police interview I will not be applying for bail today but I will be applying for bail on the next occasion when the interview process has concluded and it is clear exactly what Mr Cleary is facing.

'It should be made clear that Mr Cleary is a vulnerable man and certain matters are being looked into with regards to his vulnerability.’ Dressed in a crumpled T-shirt and tracksuit bottoms, the pale and unshaven defendant nervously bit his lip throughout the hearing.

Staring blankly at the packed courtroom, Cleary’s red-rimmed eyes were hooded by deep bags. He spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth during the five-minute hearing.

The defendant, who was arrested at his home in Essex on Monday as part of a joint investigation by Scotland Yard and the FBI, has yet to plea to the charges.

Behind closed doors: The Cleary family lived in this house in Wickford, Essex

He is accused of taking part in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks - coordinated assaults that cripple websites by overwhelming them with requests for data - which briefly brought down Soca's site on Monday.

He is alleged to have attacked the websites of the British Phonographic Industry's website in October last year and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's website in November last year.

Cleary is also charged with conspiring with other people to create a remotely-controlled network of zombie computers, known as a ‘botnet’, to carry out DDoS attacks.

The offences under the Computer Misuse and Criminal Law Acts carry a possible sentence of 10 years.