A hacker arrested for his alleged involvement in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks carried out by Anonymous and LulzSec was released from a London jail on bail today, where he was charged with five computer-related crimes.
Jake Davis, 18, was arrested last week for participating in a cyber attack on the U.K.'s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), Sony, and News Corp.-owned newspapers. He appeared before a London court this morning and was released on bail pending an August 30 hearing, the AP reported. Davis must wear an electronic ankle bracelet, observe a curfew, stay away from the Internet, and remain at his mother's home in England.
He has five charges against him, including:
- Unauthorized access to a computer system, contrary to Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
- Encouraging / assisting offences, contrary to S46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.
- Conspiracy with others to carry out a Distributed Denial of Service Attack on the Web site of the Serious and Organised Crime Agency contrary to S1 Criminal Law Act 1977.
- Conspiracy to commit offences of section 3 Computer Misuse Act 1990, contrary to S1 Criminal Law Act 1977.
- Conspiracy between the defendant and others to commit offences of section 3 Computer Misuse Act 1990 contrary to S1 Criminal Law Act 1977.
Journalist Laurie Penny tweeted that Davis emerged from court wearing sunglasses and carrying a copy of "Free Radicals: the Secret Anarchy of Science." Financial Times correspondent Tim Bradshaw also posted a photo of Davis' departure via Instagram.
As news of his release made the rounds, Anonymous tweeted "Stay strong, @atopiary. We will continue this, as your last tweet is truth. We, the people, silent no more. #AntiSec."
Davis uses the name "Topiary" online. The final tweet via @atopiary said: "You cannot arrest an idea," a quote first circulated after officials in the U.S. and abroad arrested a number of Anonymous and LulzSec hackers for DDoS and similar attacks. The arrests irked Anonymous, which argued that its tactics were no different from a peaceful protest or sit-in and that the government should worry about real corruption. In retaliation, Anonymous recently organized a boycott of PayPal, though the company said that effort had little effect.
As PCMag pointed out in a recent overview of the key LulzSec players, Topiary is reportedly second-in-command within LulzSec, though he is thought to be the least tech-savvy in the group. As a result, he acted as a PR liaison for Anonymous before moving over to LulzSec, manning its Twitter feed, among other things. The @LulzSec Twitter feed has not been updated since July 27, the day of Davis' arrest.
Anonymous, meanwhile, has encouraged supporters to create avatars or other images in support of Davis.