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DATE=4/19/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=COMPUTER ATTACKS ARREST (L-ONLY) NUMBER=2-261528 BYLINE=DAVID SWAN DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: Canadian police have arrested a teenage suspect in connection with recent attacks on some of America's most popular internet (World Wide) web sites. Those incidents disrupted internet traffic and touched off fears about computer security in the fast- growing online business world. V-O-A's David Swan has details. TEXT: The February cyber-attacks hit some of the best-known places on the web, including the Cable News Network [EDS: C-N-N] site, the popular E-Bay auction house and the online bookseller, Amazon-dot-com. Officials say those responsible secretly took over dozens or hundreds of computers and used them to flood the target sites with data. This made it impossible for users to reach them and cost the sites' owners an untold amount in lost revenue. Authorities in Canada and the United States have now announced an arrest. U-S Attorney General Janet Reno says the nations have worked together on the case for the past two months. /// Reno Act /// These joint efforts resulted in the arrest of a 15-year-old suspect by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Montreal Saturday morning. The suspect, who goes by the online name "Mafiaboy," has been charged in connection with a cyber-attack on the C-N-N network website. /// End Act /// The boy, whose real name has not been disclosed, is charged with computer mischief. He is free on bail but is barred from using computers except for schoolwork, and then only under close supervision. Police say the youth bragged in internet "chat rooms" [EDS: online conversation areas] about what he had done. He also apparently left traces behind on a university computer in California, which was among those used in the attacks. Officials say the investigation continues and more arrests are possible. (Signed) NEB/DS/JP 19-Apr-2000 15:12 PM EDT (19-Apr-2000 1912 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .