The arrest took place following a joint operation by its Internet crimes unit and the FBI, the Metropolitan Police said. The FBI declined to comment. British police would not say if the suspect was tied to the Lulz Security hacking collective, which has claimed responsibility for recent high-profile attacks, but confirmed that a computer seized in the operation will be examined for Sony data.

Police declined to identify the suspect because he has not been charged with a crime. Lulz had boasted of successfully hacking Sony in addition to subsequent attacks on the CIA web page and the US Senate computer system. The hackers recently called for "war" on governments that control the Internet.