JUNE 30, 2011, 4:27 P.M. ET.

FBI Raids Home of Ohio Man Linked to Hacker Group

By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW And SIOBHAN GORMAN

U.S. authorities raided the home of a Hamilton, Ohio, man who appeared to have links to the hacker group LulzSec, as a probe into recent high-profile computer attacks gained momentum.

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation searched the home Monday, an FBI spokesman confirmed without providing any further detail. A person close to the matter said the arrested man is an alleged LulzSec member.

U.S. authorities in recent months have conducted dozens of searches as part of investigations into Anonymous, a loosely knit group of cyber activists, and splinter group LulzSec.

The groups have claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against companies and government organizations. That has prompted a global law-enforcement crackdown on the groups that has included waves of arrests across Europe and in Turkey.

British police, who are cooperating with the FBI, have made seven arrests this year as part of their probe. That includes 19-year old Ryan Cleary who had been a prominent figure in Anonymous and then LulzSec. U.K. prosecutors last week charged him with five computer-related offenses. Authorities allege he infected computers in order to form a computer network, called a botnet, that he then used to launch online attacks against websites including that of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, a U.K. equivalent of the FBI.

Essex-based Mr. Cleary, who is out on bail, is co-operating with police, his lawyer said. The lawyer added that Mr. Cleary has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism. The other six individuals arrested in the U.K. have been released on bail and haven't been charged.

LulzSec recently claimed to identify a couple of individuals it said had "tried to snitch" on the group. LulzSec appeared to reveal the full names, addresses and other contact information of two U.S. men it said were involved in criminal hacks. That included details of a person going by the nickname "m_nerva" who LulzSec claimed came from Hamilton, Ohio.

The individual identified by LulzSec, who apparently had a falling out with the group, couldn't be reached for comment.

LulzSec recently said it was ending its campaigns under that banner, but members have since joined a group within Anonymous called "AntiSec," short for "antisecurity."

Anonymous is well-known to U.S. law enforcement. By late last year, the FBI was investigating attacks by Anonymous members against the movie and recording-industry when the group also started targeting individuals and organizations that had tangled with document-sharing website WikiLeaks.

In January, FBI agents conducted searches of more than 40 residences across the U.S. No arrests were announced following those searches. The bureau is also probing subsequent hacks, including of Sony Corp. and HBGary Federal LLC, and an attack on FBI-affiliated organization InfraGuard. The FBI spokesman declined to comment on the probe.

In April, the FBI raided the home of Darrin Lantz in Gig Harbor, Wash., according to court filings. Authorities suspect Mr. Lantz was involved in an Anonymous campaign against websites belonging to Gene Simmons, of rock band Kiss, in retaliation for anti-piracy comments he made, court filings say.

Authorities say the attacks knocked Mr. Simmons's websites offline for 36 hours, causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage as a result of downtime and costs associated with changing computer servers and website hosts. During one strike, Mr. Lantz's computer attacked a website 48,471 times during a 47-minute period, authorities said.

Mr. Lantz, who hasn't been charged, didn't respond to a request for comment.

Write to Cassell Bryan-Low at cassell.bryan-low@wsj.com and Siobhan Gorman at siobhan.gorman@wsj.com

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