A 16-year-old from Oxford has been charged with being one of the leaders of the $Lapsus cybercrime gang. The teenager, who allegedly made 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 to the hacking group, BBC News reports.
Detective Inspector 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 were released but are under investigation. Our investigations are still ongoing.
$Lapsus has taken responsibility for some major security breaches at technology companies, including Nvidia, Microsoft, Samsung , Ubisoft, and Okta.
Recent reports have emerged suggesting that an autistic teenager based in Oxford is the mastermind of the group. The City of London Police did not say whether this young man was among those arrested.
Cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs stated in an extensive article about the group that at least one $Lapsus member was also involved in a data breach at EA.
Vice confirmed the group's involvement in this breach, noting that it was emblematic of subsequent, widespread hacks of the $Lapsus group.
$Lapsus has gained notoriety in a short period of time
The identity of the suspected mastermind was revealed after an apparent disagreement with business partners. The hackers revealed his name, address and social media photos.
They also published a biography about his hacking career. They said: His net worth accumulated to more than 300 bitcoins after a few years, and he is now affiliated with the wannabe group known as $Lapsus.
According to Krebs' report, the group's leader purchased Doxbin, a site where people can share or find personal information about others, last year.
He appears to have relinquished ownership in January. But the entire Doxbin data set was leaked to Telegram. The Doxbin community retaliated by defaming him.
The cyber extortion 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 with the teenager's father, who was unaware of his son's involvement with the group. “I had never heard of any of this until recently,” he said. He never talks about any hacking, but he is very good at using computers 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.