British police arrest hacker suspected of being behind MGM attack

A 17-year-old boy was arrested in Walsall, England, on suspicion of involvement in the ransomware attack on MGM Resorts.

West Midlands Police confirmed the arrest in a press release issued on Friday evening, saying the operation was part of a larger campaign involving both the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and the FBI.

“We have arrested a 17-year-old boy from Walsall in connection with a global cyber online crime group that has targeted large organisations with ransomware and gained access to computer networks,” the statement said.

Names, addresses and telephone numbers

“The suspect was taken into custody on suspicion of extortion and breaches of the Computer Misuse Act and released on bail while we continue our investigation,” police added. “We have also recovered evidence at the address, including a number of digital devices which will undergo forensic examination.”

A hacker collective known as Scattered Spider targeted MGM Resorts International’s computer systems in September 2023, infecting some casino and hotel computer systems, including the company’s website. Charles Carmakal, CTO of Mandiant Intelligence, spoke on LinkedIn about the group, also known as UNC3944, calling it “one of the most widespread and aggressive threat actors affecting organizations in the United States today.”

The attackers apparently used vishing (voice phishing) to call an MGM Resorts employee and pretend to be an IT help desk employee, obtaining network credentials that they used to deploy the ransomware, ultimately costing the company money. at least 100 million dollars.

The attack sparked an investigation by the FBI, which, West Midlands Police confirmed, is now looking into the Scattered Spider case.

“The arrest is part of a global investigation into a large-scale cyberhacking community that is targeting a number of major companies, including MGM Resorts in America.”

Detective Inspector Hinesh Mehta, head of the Cyber Crime Unit at ROCUWM, warned cybercriminals against attacking companies with ransomware: “We want to send a clear message that we will find you. It’s just not worth it.”

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