AG (202) 616-2777WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888
STATEMENT BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
ON THE ARREST IN THE CYBER-ATTACK CASE
"Last February, millions of Americans were prevented from accessing some of our nation's most popular websites. The sites, which included Yahoo, eBay and CNN.com, were the targets of a powerful cyber-attack. I am so pleased with the important breakthrough we have had in this investigation.
"For the last 2 months, the FBI and prosecutors from the Computer Crime Section have been working closely with investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This has been an excellent effort between prosecutors at the Justice Department, FBI agents, and our Canadian counterparts.
"These joint efforts resulted in the arrest of a 15-year-old suspect by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Montreal Saturday morning. The suspect, who goes by the on-line name "mafia boy," has been charged in connection with the cyber-attack on the CNN website.
"Today's announcement was the product of extraordinary cooperation between U.S. and Canadian authorities, as well as cooperation among law enforcement agencies in the United States. In addition, we received excellent assistance from victims in the denial of service attacks and we continue to work with industry on this and other incidents.
"At the time of the attacks, I pledged our commitment to tracking down the responsible cyber-culprits. I believe this recent breakthrough demonstrates our capacity to track down those who would abuse this remarkable new technology, and track them down wherever they may be. Our investigation is continuing. And I would like to commend all who were involved in this effort."
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