14 accused of Paypal cyberattack

Fourteen people have been arrested in the US for allegedly mounting a cyberattack on PayPal’s website in retaliation for suspending the accounts of WikiLeaks.

The attacks on the online payment specialist by the group Anonymous followed the release by whistleblowing website WikiLeaks in November of thousands of classified US State Department cables.

Anonymous is a loosely-organised group of hackers sympathetic to WikiLeaks. It has claimed responsibility for attacks against corporate and government websites all over the world.

The group also says it disrupted the websites of Visa and MasterCard in December when the credit card companies stopped processing donations to WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.

The 14 allegedly involved in the PayPal attack were charged in US District Court in San Jose, California, and were arrested in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio.

It came as FBI agents executed more than 35 search warrants around the country in an continuing investigation into co-ordinated cyberattacks against major companies and organisations.

There were two arrests in the United States unrelated to the PayPal attack.

Overseas, one person was arrested in south London by Scotland Yard and there were four arrests by the Dutch National Police Agency, all for alleged cybercrimes.