Alleged LulzSec leader arrested and charged in Australia

The Australian Federal Police has charged 24-year-old Matthew Flannery (aka “Aush0k”) from Point Clare with allegedly attacking and defacing a government website earlier this month.

Flannery, who proclaimed himself leader of the LulzSec hacktivist group, has been working as tech support in Australian IT security firm Content Security.

The company has refuted the AFP’s claims that Flannery “man was in a position of trust within the company, with access to sensitive information from clients including government agencies,” by stating for Softpedia that he had no access to any type of customer data apart from support tickets.

“The AFP believes the man’s knowledge and skills presented a significant risk to the clients of the company for which he was employed had he continued his illegal online activities,” stated the police.

Flannery was bailed and is set to appear in Woy Woy Local Court on 15 May 2013. He has been charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data to cause impairment, and one count of unauthorized access to, or modification of, restricted data.

If convicted, he could end up with a 12-year-long prison sentence.

Anonymous Australia has piped up to say that Flannery has no connection with the group, and that he certainly is not the leader of LulzSec.