LulzSec: Shetland teen appears in court over hacking

A teenager from the Shetland Islands charged over alleged computer hacking has appeared in court.

Jake Davis, 18, is accused of unauthorised computer access and conspiracy to carry out a distributed denial of service attack on the Serious Organised Crime Agency's website.

He appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday

District Judge Howard Riddle released him on bail until a Southwark Crown Court appearance set for 30 August.

Davis wore a denim shirt with black T-shirt underneath and only spoke to confirm his personal details.

His arrest on Wednesday by the Metropolitan Police's e-Crime Unit was part of a police investigation into hacking groups known as Anonymous and LulzSec.

LulzSec has also been linked to hacking attempts on the NHS, Sony, and The Sun newspaper, the court heard.

The UK Serious Organised Crime agency took its website offline for several hours on 20 June after it appeared to be a victim of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. LulzSec claimed responsibility for the attack.

DDoS is where large numbers of computers, under malicious control, overload their target with web requests.

Ryan Cleary, 19, of Wickford, Essex, was charged last month with five offences under the Criminal Law and Computer Misuse Acts, including an alleged hacking attack against Soca's website.

LulzSec has previously also claimed responsibility for hacking attacks on the US Senate, Sony, the CIA and the Sun newspaper.

A 16-year-old boy from south London was arrested and bailed last week, while the international investigation has also led to sixteen arrests in the United States and four in the Netherlands.