LulzSec says British suspect not leader

LONDON, June 22 (UPI) -- The computer hacking coalition Lulz Security Wednesday denied that a teenager arrested in Britain recently had a major role in the group.

The group, known as LulzSec, also claimed responsibility for bringing down the Brazilian government's Web site, posting on its Twitter page, "Tango down," using military jargon to say it interrupted service to a Web site, CNN reported.

The Brazilian government and presidency Web sites were failing to load Wednesday morning, hours after the group said it attacked them.

LulzSec also said Ryan Clearly, whom British media named as the 19-year-old hacker arrested outside of London Monday, was not a key player in the organization.

"Ryan Cleary is not part of LulzSec; we house one of our many legitimate chatrooms on his IRC server, but that's it," the group posted on its Twitter page. "Clearly the UK police are so desperate to catch us that they've gone and arrested someone who is, at best, mildly associated with us. Lame."

The suspect was custody but had not been charged, London's Metropolitan Police told CNN Wednesday.

Investigators said they arrested Cleary on suspicion of mounting cyberattacks on the CIA and the U.S. Senate Web sites, The Daily Telegraph reported. He could be extradited to United States, where computer hacking carries a prison term of up to 10 years.

A police spokesman said the teen's computers will be examined for activities related to hacks against Britain's Serious Organized Crime Agency, the CIA and Sony. The suspect's computer will also be examined for links to LulzSec, another police spokesman told CNN.

"This link has not been established yet as it [the investigation] is still early," the spokesman said.

British authorities said they suspect a rogue member of LulzSec was responsible for a weekend hack in which $9 million worth of online currency was stolen, The Guardian reported.

The hack was against a currency exchange called MtGox, which provides a method for swapping bitcoins -- an untraceable, cryptographically created online-only currency -- for real American dollars.

MtGox officials said its site was not compromised.

LulzSec has denied involvement in the bitcoin hack, although it has taken credit for breaching the CIA and PBS Web sites. Unclear is whether LulzSec members played a role in the Sony PlayStation Network breach, although they have posted what they said is proprietary information from Sony operations.