Alleged 'Anonymous' hacker arrested for attack on Gene Simmons website

A man accused of being part of the hacking group Anonymous was arrested on Tuesday on charges of attacking the website of Kiss frontman Gene Simmons.

Kevin George Poe, 24, was arrested in Connecticut and ordered to appear in court in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's office in Los Angeles said. A date has yet to be scheduled.

Poe is accused of using a computer program to bombard the GeneSimmons.com website for five days in October 2010 with tens of thousands of electronic requests in a denial of service attack.

He is charged with conspiracy and unauthorized impairment of a protected computer and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

According to the indictment, Poe used a favorite software tool of the Anonymous collective -- a Low Orbit Ion Cannon -- to send vast numbers of requests over a network in an attempt to overwhelm a target computer.

Simmons, 62, founded hard rock band Kiss in the early 1970s and appeared in the TV reality shows "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" and "Rock School."

Authorities did not say why Simmons' website was targeted. Anonymous has previously been linked to attacks on the websites of the PlayStation store, MasterCard, Visa and the Church of Scientology.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: Reuters US Online Report Internet News

Additional links from Reuters US Online Report Internet News

Reuters services for news professionals

Reuters Pictures - Search, select, buy

Share your news photos and videos with Reuters and Yahoo!

Reuters Reporter Blogs

Mochila insert follows...

Photo credit: Alberto Cabello