Over the last month, major technology companies such as Nvidia, Samsung, and Microsoft have been targeted by ransomware assaults. Lapsus$, a hacker gang, stole hundreds of gigabytes of source code and threatened to distribute it to the public if their demands were not met.
Investigators have now linked these attacks to a 16-year-old boy who lives with his mother near Oxford, England. The researchers also discovered seven other accounts linked to the cyber organization, including one from a Brazilian adolescent.
They believe the British adolescent was the mastermind behind all of the attacks.
Credit goes to rival hackers, who allegedly released the teenager’s personal information, including all information about his parents, online. The researchers linked this information to forensic specifics of the intrusion as well as publicly available information.
Bloomberg did not release any personal information about the hacker, but did indicate that he goes by the nickname “White” or “breachbase.” The researchers initially mistook White’s strikes for automatic since he is so adept and quick at what he does.
Not only does the Lapsus$ hacker organization appear to be want money, but also notoriety. The attackers leave no trace of their activities and even post about the hacks on social media.
They advertise for employees who are prepared to sell their workplace logins on the internet, and they frequently join their victims’ Zoom calls to insult those who are responding to their attacks.
Lapsus$ began assaulting organizations in the United Kingdom and South America, according to Microsoft, before moving on to large IT firms, government agencies, telecommunications firms, and health-care firms.
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