British Government Cyber-attack
By AFP on November 06, 2012


LONDON - British police on Tuesday arrested a man over an alleged cyber-attack on the websites of Home Secretary Theresa May and her interior ministry.

The 41-year-old was arrested at his home in Stoke-on-Trent, central England, on suspicion of encouraging a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, Scotland Yard said.

He is suspected of encouraging other web users to bombard the websites with requests, causing them to crash.

Police arrested the man on suspicion of breaking the Serious Crime Act of 2007 and bailed him until mid-December. Computers, telephones and media storage devices were seized from his home, according to police.

"Assisting and encouraging cyber crime is a serious matter and I would advise all persons to consider their actions and any possible future consequences prior to posting any material online," said Detective Inspector Jason Tunn.