LulzSec chronicle: Cleary charged with hacking offenses

The 19-year-old arrested on Tuesday by London police has been formally charged with launching denial of services attacks.

Ryan Cleary, who was the center of a flurry of reports connecting the dots between him and the LulzSec hacking group, was charged with a bevy of offenses. Cleary, was identified by the BBC, which appeared to use PasteBin to get the name. Cleary was arrested early Tuesday in what appeared to be a score for Scotland Yard and the FBI. It initially appeared that Cleary was a ringleader for LulzSec, which is structured to be a leaderless organization.

However, LulzSec said it was alive and well. According to @anonymouSabu, believed to be a leader of LulzSec, Cleary was ratted out, but he only hosted chats.

Among the key charges:

• Cleary allegedly conspired with others to construct a botnet used in an attack.
• Allegedly launched a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack was launched June 20 against the Serious Organised Crime Agency to hamper operations.
• Attacked the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
• Launched another DDOS attack on the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
• Cleary allegedly was a botnet supplier.

The teen is expected to appear before the City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday. The charges were the latest in an ongoing saga revolving around recent attacks.