LONDON (AP) ? British police say they have charged a 17-year-old male over attacks carried out by the computer hacking group known as Anonymous.
Scotland Yard says the teen, from Chester, central England, has been charged in relation to denial-of-service attacks against various companies. Police did not name the companies.
Denial-of-service attacks choke websites with traffic the same way a telephone line might be jammed with thousands of crank calls.
Anonymous likens such attacks to online civil disobedience, but penalties can be severe. The maximum sentence for a conviction on such a charge is 10 years in prison.
Police said Tuesday the teen ? who cannot be named for legal reasons ? was arrested in January and will appear at City of Westminster Magistrates Court on Sept. 7.
