Police swoop on teenage 'mastermind of global hacking'.(News)

Byline: Andrew Levy

A TEENAGER is suspected of masterminding computer hacking attacks on the CIA, the U.S. Senate and Sony from his bedroom.

Ryan Cleary, 19, was arrested at his family's home in Essex, England, in a dramatic swoop following a joint inquiry by Scotland Yard and the FBI.

He was held hours after the UK's serious crime unit came under online siege from hacking group LulzSec.

The self-styled group of 'pirate ninjas' - whose name is derived from 'Lulz Security' - recently declared on Twitter their intention to break into government websites and banks, and leak confidential documents.

On Monday the Serious and Organised Crime Ageny - dubbed Britain's FBI - was forced temporarily to take its website off-line after hackers bombarded it with traffic.

Now the reclusive teenager faces the prospect of extradition to America where he could face 60 years behind bars for allegedly hacking into the CIA and U.S. Senate websites.

Detectives believe Mr Cleary is a 'major player' with LulzSec, which has been linked to attacks on games firm Sony, in which the passwords of millions of users were accessed.

His mother Rita, 44, said her son suffers from agoraphobia and attention deficit disorder, 'lived his life online' and had not left his bedroom for four years.

Earlier this year, she was fined [euro]130 for allowing her older son to grow cannabis plants at their home.

The mother of two said: 'He has a history of mental health problems. He left school at 15. He has stayed in his room for the last four years in front of his computer. He is bright, but does not have any social skills.' Mrs Cleary, who is on incapacity benefit, claimed her son needed the drugs to ease his epilepsy symptoms.

When his father Neil asked what he was doing on the internet the teenager told him: 'I'm am just gaming'.

Lawyers said U.S prosecutors may demand Mr Cleary faces justice across the Atlantic. Mark Spragg, an extradition lawyer at Keystone Law, said: 'If the charges on which he was arrested would result in a sentence in excess of 12 months, then potentially it would constitute an extradition offence.'