UK Police charges two teenagers for their alleged role in the Lapsus$ extortion group

The City of London Police charged two of the seven teenagers who were arrested for their alleged role in the LAPSUS$ data extortion gang.

The duo has been released on bail after appearing in the Highbury Corner Magistrates Court court on Friday.

The City of London Police charged two of the seven teenagers recently arrested by the UK police for their alleged membership in the Lapsus$ extortion gang.

“The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation into members of a hacking group. Two teenagers, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, have been charged in connection with this investigation and remain in police custody. Both teenagers have been charged with: three counts of unauthorised access to a computer with intent to impair the reliability of data; one count of fraud by false representation and one count of unauthorised access to a computer with intent to hinder access to data,” Detective Inspector Michael O’Sullivan of the City of London Police said. “The 16-year-old has also been charged with one count of causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to a program.”

UK police suspect that a 16-year-old from Oxford is one of the leaders of the popular Lapsus$ group.

Over the last months, the Lapsus$ gang compromised many prominent companies such as NVIDIA, Samsung, Ubisoft, Mercado Libre, Vodafone, Microsoft, Okta, and Globant.

The hack of Globant was announced after the arrest of the seven teeenagers, on March 30, which means that other members of the gang are still operating under the Lapsus$ brand.a

The FBI added the gang to the list of most wanted criminals and is asking the public for assistance in an investigation involving the compromise of computer networks belonging to United States-based technology companies.

“On March 21, 2022, individuals from a group identifying themselves as Lapsus$ posted on a social media platform and alleged to have stolen source code from a number of United States-based technology companies. These unidentified individuals took credit for both the theft and dissemination of proprietary data that they claim to have illegally obtained.” states the FBI. “The FBI is seeking information regarding the identities of the individuals responsible for these cyber intrusions.”

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, cybercrime)