Five leading members of LulzSec arrested or further charged, including two from Ireland

Sabu: LulzSec leader turned tout?

A cross-continent operation this morning has resulted in the arrest of three alleged members of hacker group LulzSec, with two other alleged members charged with conspiracy.

The arrests were apparently made after a leading LulzSec member, Sabu, co-operated with an on-going FBI investigation. Sabu, or Hector Xavier Monsegur, pleaded guilty to 12 hacking-related charges last August. It’s speculated that turning-in other members may lessen his own sanction, although this is unconfirmed.

An FBI official supposedly commented to Fox News that,

“This is devastating to the organization. We’re chopping off the head of LulzSec.”

The five arrested or given additional charges this morning are described as “top-ranking” members of LulzSec. Two are said to be from London, two from Ireland and one from Chicago. Their handles are Kayla, Topiary, pwnsauce, palladium and Anarchaos.

The alleged member from Chicago is believed to be one of the main persons behind the hack on US security firm Stratfor, where a large email and credit card database was compromised.