A Scottish teenager was arrested in Glasgow on Tuesday and is being investigated for allegedly hacking into a computer system used by the FBI.
Local police apprehended the 15-year-old on Tuesday, searched his home and then questioned him in the presence of FBI officials, the U.K.’s Telegraph reported on Thursday. Authorities are withholding the suspect’s name.
A spokesman for Scottish authorities confirmed in a statement that the teen was arrested in connection with alleged offenses under Britain’s anti-hacking law, the Computer Misuse Act of 1990, and has since been released, but said the case will be referred to local prosecutors.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” the official said.
The Scottish Daily Record newspaper reported on Thursday that the boy is believed to have hacked into the FBI’s computers, according to an unnamed source who said the teenager could potentially be extradited to the U.S.
News of the teen’s arrest surfaced less than a week after police in East Midlands, England, similarly arrested and released a 16-year-old boy accused of computer hacking. Several news outlets, including Newsweek, reported at the time that the teenager is thought to have been involved with Crackas With Attitude, a now-defunct hacking group that has taken credit for compromising the AOL email account of CIA Director John Brennan and FBI’s executive assistant Amy Hess, among other U.S. government officials.
Speaking to Motherboard last week, the 16-year-old claimed that police have blamed him for attacks on multiple members of the Obama administration, as well as a hack on the Department of Justice that led to the unauthorized access and subsequent publication of personal details pertaining to nearly 30,000 employees of the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
The Scottish Daily Record reported on Thursday that it could not immediately confirm any link between the two teens.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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