Seventeen-Year-Old Associated with Scattered Spider Cybercrime Syndicate Apprehended in the United Kingdom
Authorities in the United Kingdom have detained a 17-year-old teenager from Walsall suspected of being a member of the infamous Scattered Spider cybercrime syndicate.
The apprehension was conducted “in relation to an international cyber online criminal organization that has been focusing on prominent corporations through ransomware attacks and infiltrating computer networks,” as stated by West Midlands police mentioned. “The arrest forms part of a worldwide inquiry into a massive cyber hacking community that has directed its activities at several major companies including MGM Resorts in the United States.”
The arrest of the adolescent, executed in collaboration with the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), comes shortly after another 22-year-old individual affiliated with the e-crime syndicate from the U.K. was captured in Spain.
Scattered Spider, a branch of a loosely connected faction known as The Com, has transformed into an initial access dealer and associate, dispersing ransomware variants such as BlackCat, Qilin, and RansomHub. A recent study by Mandiant, owned by Google, has revealed the attackers shifting towards encryption-free extortion assaults aimed at extracting data from software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms.
The incident unfolds as the Department of Justice (DoJ) declared the sentencing of Scott Raul Esparza, 24, from Texas, to a prison term of nine months for overseeing a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack platform named Astrostress between 2019 and 2022, after which he will serve a two-year supervised release. He admitted to the charges earlier in March.
“Astrostress.com users were given various subscription options – which dictated the number and intensity of attacks they wished to execute – and were charged correspondingly,” as detailed by the DoJ stated. “This service enabled collaborators worldwide to register on Astrostress.com and employ its resources to direct attacks at internet-connected systems globally.”
Esparza, responsible for acquiring the attack servers and maintaining the service, purportedly collaborated with Shamar Shattock, 21, from Florida. Shattock, after pleading guilty in March 2023, faces a potential imprisonment term of up to five years.
Concurrently, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed penalties against Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, affiliates of CyberArmyofRussia_Reborn (CARR), a hacktivist entity linked to the notorious Russia-based Sandworm (aka APT44) group, for orchestrating cyber assaults targeting essential infrastructure in the nation.
Pankratova (AKA YUliYA) is identified as the head of CARR and its spokesperson, while Degtyarenko (AKA Dena) is portrayed as the primary hacker of the group, allegedly involved in infiltrating a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system of an undisclosed U.S. energy firm.
“Employing diverse unsophisticated tactics, CARR has been found to manipulate industrial control system equipment in water supply, hydroelectric, wastewater, and energy establishments across the U.S. and Europe,” as explained by the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) revealed.
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