2023-08-24 10:05:10
In London, a jury ruled that an 18-year-old member of the Lapsus$ gang had hacked into several companies, stole data from them and attempted to ransom them.
This is A. Kurtaj, suspected of being one of the leaders of the group. The Lapsus$ gang claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on major companies last year, including Microsoft, Cisco, Nvidia, Samsung, game studios Ubisoft and 2K, as well as authentication software maker Okta.
The band would consist mostly of teenagers. Seven people, mostly minors, were arrested late last year in Britain and Brazil. In the case, Kurtaj was suspected of breaking into fintech firm Revolut, taxi service Uber and game developer Rockstar Games.
Kurtai has used over a dozen names online and is said to have amassed over 300 bitcoins (worth over $7 million at current prices) through his illegal activities. The majority of this money would meanwhile have been lost in the game or stolen during intrusions on his own computer.
He was arrested twice and allegedly leaked footage of Grand Theft Auto 6 while out on bail. Even after his arrest, he allegedly broke into the London police cloud storage facility.
SIM card scam
Lapsus$ was also very active in 2021 and 2022 and seems to mainly exploit social engineering, as well as low-cost hacking techniques. The gang made money primarily by exploiting the SIM card scam (‘SIM-swapping’), but also dabbled in a string of big companies, ostensibly to brag. The gang’s activities came to a halt at the end of last year, after the arrest of seven alleged members.
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