Teenagers arrested $Lapsus group
A 16-year-old from Oxford has been accused of being one of the leaders of the $Lapsus cybercrime gang. The teen, who claims to have amassed a fortune of $14 million from hacking, has been named by rival hackers and researchers.
City of London police have arrested seven teenagers over their suspected links with the hacking group, BBC News reports.
Detective Michael O’Sullivan of the City of London Police said: “The City of London Police is conducting an investigation with its partners regarding members of a hacking group. Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 were arrested in connection with this investigation and all have been released but are under investigation. Our investigations are still ongoing.
$Lapsus has been held responsible for some major security breaches at tech companies, including Nvidia, Microsoft, Samsung, Ubisoft, and Okta.
And recent reports have emerged that an autistic teenager residing in Oxford is the mastermind of the group. The City of London Police did not say whether this young man was among those arrested.
And cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs stated in an extensive article about the group that at least one member of $Lapsus was also involved in a data breach at EA.
Vice confirmed the group’s involvement in the breach, noting that it was emblematic of the subsequent and widespread hack of $Lapsus.
The group has grown in popularity in recent months after targeting several technology companies and posting large amounts of data through the Telegram channel.
Little is known about the group’s origins. Some researchers have speculated that the group’s headquarters are in South America. This is because its initial activity was directed towards several organizations in Brazil.
$Lapsus has gained notoriety in a short period of time
The identity of the suspected mastermind was revealed after an apparent feud with business partners. Hackers revealed his name, address, and social media photos.
They also published a biography of his hacking career. They said his net worth accumulated to over 300 bitcoins after a few years, and he is now affiliated with the wannabe group known as $Lapsus.
According to the Krebs report, the group leader bought Doxbin, a site where people can share or find personal information about others, last year.
Apparently, he gave up ownership in January. But he leaked his entire Doxbin dataset to Telegram. The Doxbin community retaliated by defaming him.
The blackmail group $Lapsus has gained notoriety in a short period of time thanks to its high-profile targets and active presence on Telegram.
BBC News spoke to the teenager’s father, who was unaware of his son’s involvement with the group. “I haven’t heard of any of this until recently,” he said. He never talks about hacking, but he is very good at using a computer and spends a lot of time on the computer. And I thought he was playing. We are trying to prevent him from using the computer.
