Teen held over cyber attacks targeting US government

ATHENS, Greece — An 18-year-old has been arrested and accused of hacking into websites of the U.S. government and the international crime fighting agency Interpol, Greek police said Wednesday.

The two-year manhunt ended with the help of authorities in France and the United States, officials said. The investigation will examine whether the suspect had links to militants.

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In a raid on the suspect's house in greater Athens on Monday, police seized computers, flares, shotgun cartridges, a homemade incendiary device, 130 fake credit cards, and €7,850 ($11,500) and $300 (€205) in cash hidden in a hollowed-out book, police said in a statement.

The suspect, who was not further identified, was arrested there on charges of computer fraud, forgery, illegal violation of privacy, and illegal weapons possession.

According to ekathimerini.com, the suspect was known online as "Splitter."

The website reported that the suspect had a tattoo on his back reading: "Capitalism is opportunity and opportunity is freedom."

Police cybercrime and anti-terrorism divisions are involved in the investigation, which also will examine possible links between the suspect and local militant groups that have carried out bombings in the past, mostly targeting Greek banks and government agencies.

The alleged cyber attacks occurred in 2008 and 2009 against the U.S. and Interpol sites, with the suspect using botnets: networks of computers carrying malicious software unknown to the users.

The police statement did not identify the computer sites that were allegedly hacked into.