US man arrested over Aust cyber attacks

An American man has been arrested over a series of cyber attacks on Australian businesses and others two years ago.

The 37-year-old, born in Iran, was taken into custody by the FBI in Seattle early on Wednesday morning (US time).

It followed a two-and-a-half year joint operation between the Australian Federal Police, Toronto Police Department and the FBI.

A number of businesses in Australia, the US and Canada had their IT systems hit by distributed denial of service attacks in early 2015 and were contacted by an individual making demands of the companies.

"This is a timely reminder to cyber-criminals that international law enforcement is a team sport," AFP manager of cyber crime operations, Commander David McLean, said in a statement on Friday.

"Our ability and willingness to work together at a distance and across borders has never been greater."

The man remains in custody after appearing in the US District Court for the State of Washington.