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27 June 2011, 14:09

Alleged hacker said to be suffering from Asperger's - Update

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Ryan Cleary, the 19-year old alleged hacker arrested last week by the Metropolitan Police, appeared in court in London on Saturday 25 June. The BBC reported that at the hearing, at which no plea was entered, his lawyer claimed that he had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome – the same condition as that afflicting Gary McKinnon, the hacker currently fighting extradition to the US. Cleary was charged last week with five offences under the Criminal Law Act and Computer Misuse Act: the charges relate to the construction of botnets with the intention of creating distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

Cleary was arrested as part of a joint investigation by the UK police and the FBI into the activities of the now disbanded hacker group LulzSec. That group is said to have been behind attacks against companies such as Sony, and government organisations, including the US Senate, the CIA and the UK's Serious Organised Crimes Agency (SOCA).

The teenager was granted bail but remained in custody due to objections from the prosecution; an appeal will be heard early this week. According to the BBC, if Cleary's bail appeal is successful he will not be allowed to have any device that could connect to the internet.

Update - 28 June - Cleary has now been granted conditional bail. A BBC report says he is not allowed access to the internet or to possess devices that can go online. He is also under a 21:00 to 07:00 curfew, is electronically tagged and may only leave the house accompanied by one of his parents. His case is due to resume on 30 August at Southwark Crown Court.

(ehe)

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