( CNN ) -- Police in Europe and South America have arrested 25 alleged members of the `` Anonymous '' hacking group , Interpol said , amid a suspected attack on its own website by the group 's supporters . The arrests include four people in Spain , 10 in Argentina , six in Chile and five in Colombia as part of a worldwide sweep carried out as part of Interpol operation `` Exposure . '' Interpol did not immediately announce charges against the 25 . After Interpol announced the attacks , its website failed to load , a fact acknowledged by Anonymous on Twitter with the message `` interpol.int DOWN . '' Who or what is Anonymous ? The Spanish police website also failed to load after it announced police had arrested four people in the country as part of the international action . Spanish police said the four suspects were accused of carrying out denial of service attacks , defacing the websites of political parties , institutions and companies , as well as publishing personal information relating to high-profile figures . One of those arrested was a 16-year-old girl , who was allegedly part of international `` sector 404 , '' a hacking group which is believed to be linked to the attacks claimed by Anonymous . Police said the girl had been released to the custody of her parents . Two of the others had been detained , while the third was released on bail , police said . Anonymous made headlines in 2010 when it carried out distributed denial of service or DDOS attacks targeting MasterCard , Visa and PayPal websites . DDOS is a kind of network stress test in which each attacker gives consent to have his or her computer linked to a bot net . The force of all those computers working together , focused on one site , overwhelms the targeted site 's server and consequently disrupts or takes the site down . At the time , Anonymous claimed that it was lashing out at the corporations because they had stopped doing business with WikiLeaks , the publisher huge tranches of confidential information under the leadership of founder and editor Julian Assange . Since then , the group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks , notably claiming that it attacked government websites in Tunisia and Egypt as a way to show support for protesters during Arab Spring uprisings . A video -- laced with Anonymous ' typical computer-voiceover -- appeared online during the January 2011 revolution . It threatened Egyptian authorities if they attempted to censor Internet access and other freedoms . `` Anonymous is you . You will not be denied your right to free speech , free press , free association and your universal right to freely access information both in real life and on the Internet , '' the voice said . Anonymous had a hand in organizing and agitating in the Occupy movement throughout 2011 . Protesters have been seen at Occupy demonstrations across the globe wearing Anonymous ' distinctive Guy Fawkes mask . This year , the group claimed to have posted an internal FBI conference call discussing investigations into Anonymous . It also posted e-mails that it claimed were from an adviser to the Syrian president , suggesting how Bashar al-Assad could downplay violence in the country when he was interviewed by Barbara Walters last summer . CNN 's Ashley Fantz contributed to this report .
Interpol website suffers suspected attack after `` Anonymous '' arrests . 25 suspected members of the hacking group arrested worldwide . Four arrested in Spain including a 16-year-old girl . Comment: