In an unusual incident, British authorities have accused a 16-year-old boy of being one of the leaders of the dangerous hacking group Lapsus$. The young man was also identified by hackers and investigators, who mention that he would have managed to obtain up to $ 14 million USD as part of his cybercriminal operations.
London police have already arrested seven teenagers allegedly linked to Lapsus$, while reports say the boy’s parents told a BBC reporter that the family was worried as the young man spent too much time on the computer.
The defendant would have operated under the alias of “White” or “Breachbase” and it has been known that he has autism and attended to a specialized academy, although more details about his identity are unknown at the moment. About Lapsus$, specialists mention that this is a hacking group with links in Latin America and, despite being relatively new, it has become a serious threat to multiple companies.
In the interview, provided anonymously, the boy’s father says that he never heard him talk about hacking, although he acknowledges that he is very good with the computer and spends a lot of time in that world: “I always thought I was just playing a video game,” he says.
The young man’s identity was exposed on a hacking website, in a practice known as doxxing. This would have occurred after a fight with Lapsus$’s business associates, who after the argument revealed his full name, address and social media images.
These hackers also published some background of the young man in the world of cybercrime, ensuring that these practices had generated profits of up to 300 Bitcoin (almost $ 15 million USD). Although in the past he would have acted on his own, a few months ago the young man would have joined Lapsus$.
The hacking group appears to have confirmed the arrest of some of its members. Through his Telegram channel, Lapsus$ posted a message noting that a part of his team would have vacations for the rest of the month, so they could go on a temporary hiatus.
To learn more about information security risks, malware variants, vulnerabilities and information technologies, feel free to access the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) websites.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
