The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has arrested a self-proclaimed leader of the hacking group Lulz Security’ (Lulzsec).
The unnamed 24-year-old man was arrested in Point Clare, on the NSW central coast, after he allegedly attacked and defaced a government website earlier this month.
The accused is scheduled to appear in Woy Woy Local Court on 15 May this year.
He has been charged with two counts of unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment and one count of unauthorised access to restricted data.
If found guilty, he may face a maximum of 12 years in jail.
AFP Cyber Crime Operations Commander Glen McEwen said the impairment or disruption of communications to or from computer networks can have serious consequences.
"Those thinking of engaging in such activities should be warned that hacking, creating or propagating malicious viruses or participating in Distributed Denial of Service attacks are not harmless fun," McEwen said.
"Criminal acts such as this can result in serious long-term consequences for individuals, such as criminal convictions or imprisonment."
In August last year, the FBI arrested LulzSec member Raynaldo Rivera over the infamous hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment and was awarded one year prison term in Los Angeles, US.
