The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday that it had arrested 16 individuals across the country allegedly responsible for cyber attacks on PayPal's website and connected with the prankster and "hacktivist" group Anonymous.

Fourteen people were arrested in different states including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico and Ohio. They were accused of conspiring to "intentionally damage protected computers" in an indictment that was unsealed Tuesday in a California federal court in San Jose.

Two other individuals were arrested in New Jersey and Florida in similar complaints. The man in Florida was arrested and accused of hacking into the Web site of the Tampa InfraGard while the man in New Jersey was arrested on charges of stealing files from AT&T and distributing that information on LulzSec's site.

The attacks on PayPal were called "Operation Payback" and were in retaliation for PayPal's suspension of WikiLeaks' PayPal Accounts. Anonymous has claimed responsibility for the attack as well as other high-profile hacking incidents including attacks on government and corporate Web sites over the last eight months.

The individuals named in the San Jose indictment are: Christopher Wayne Cooper, 23, a.k.a. "Anthrophobic;" Joshua John Covelli, 26, a.k.a. "Absolem" and "Toxic;" Keith Wilson Downey, 26; Mercedes Renee Haefer, 20, a.k.a. "No" and "MMMM;" Donald Husband, 29, a.k.a. "Ananon;" Vincent Charles Kershaw, 27, a.k.a. "Trivette," "Triv," and "Reaper;" Ethan Miles, 33; James C. Murphy, 36; Drew Alan Phillips, 26, a.k.a. "Drew010;" Jeffrey Puglisi, 28, a.k.a. "Jeffer," "Jefferp," and "Ji;" Daniel Sullivan, 22; Tracy Ann Valenzuela, 42; and Christopher Quang Vo, 22. One indicted individual's name was withheld by the court.

The Justice Department said that British and Dutch police also arrested five other individuals for related cyber crimes. FoxNews has reported that the London police arrested a 16-year old boy who they believed was a core member of the group LulzSec and went by the alias Tflow.

Ross W. Nadel, a former federal prosecutor who founded the computer hacking and intellectual property unit at the Federal District Court in San Jose, said the arrests could be "a highly visible form of deterrence," as reported in a New York Times.

The 16 arrested individuals will be charged with various counts of intentional damage to a protected computer which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fines. They also face various counts of conspiracy which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The arrested individuals are set to make their initial court appearances on Tuesday in their respective districts.