Police find Anonymous cell in Italy

ROME, July 6 (UPI) -- The leader and several members of a computer hacking cell linked to Anonymous have been taken into custody, Italian police said.

Investigators charged 15 people, including five minors, after conducting 32 raids across Italy and one raid in Switzerland Tuesday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Wednesday.

The cell is accused of conducting cyberattacks on the Italian Parliament and central government Web sites, as well as targeting other Italian organizations and businesses, including Mediaset, the country's largest commercial broadcaster and owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

ANSA said police identified the cell leader as a 26-year-old Swiss-Italian who went by the nickname of "Phre."

Anonymous, an umbrella group linked to several high-profile cyberattacks, rose to world prominence in December when thousands of supporters downloaded the group's attack software to defend the whistle-blowing Web site WikiLeaks, which collected and released hundreds of thousands of sensitive U.S. military and diplomatic communications.