Lapsus$: Teenager who lives with his mother is the mastermind of mass hacking

Recently, cyber attacks were announced against large technology companies such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Okta, an ecommerce platform, among others, by hackers from the Lapsus$ group, who according to researchers are teenagers, and the mastermind is 16 years old and lives in a modest house with her mother.

Not long ago it was said that Lapsus$ had succeeded in infiltrating several companies. Its ravages were described by some media as a 'historical hack' by extracting a 1 TB of confidential data. After a lot of chaos, data have been released about the peculiar group that caused technology companies to lose designs, source codes.

Due to the magnitude of the attack, many imagined that the group of hackers was made up of experienced adults, however, it was a surprise that, according to Bloomberg, they are teenagers and the mastermind is 16 years old and “lives in his mother's house” in England.

“Investigators suspect that the teenager is behind some of the major attacks carried out by Lapsus$, but they have not been able to conclusively link him to all the attacks Lapsus$ has claimed,” Bloomberg notes.

In addition, cyber researchers have used forensic evidence of the hacks and public information to link the teenager, whose name remains undisclosed as a minor, but is known by the alias “White” and “breachbase”. Because of his age, he has not been singled out by the police for any crime.

Another suspected member of Lapsus$ is a teenager living in Brazil. The researchers found seven unique accounts associated with the hacking group, indicating that there are likely others involved in the group's operations.

According to people involved in the investigation, the minor is so skilled and quick to hack, that it made them think at first that the attacks were automated and not that they were executed by a person.

Lapsus$'s hacks of companies have been so varied and sarcastic, that they have even joined Zoom calls from companies that have transgressed, where they have mocked employees and consultants trying to clean up their hack.

Microsft, one of the affected companies, acknowledged that it fell victim to Lapsus$ in a blog post, where they explained that the group has embarked on a “large-scale social engineering and extortion campaign against multiple organizations.”

The group's main modus operandi is to hack companies, steal their data and demand a ransom so as not to disclose them. Microsoft tracks Lapsus$ as “DEV-0537″ and said the group has successfully recruited insiders in the victim companies to assist in their attacks.

The group suffers from poor operational security, according to two of the researchers, allowing cybersecurity companies to gain intimate knowledge of teenage hackers.

“Unlike most activity groups that remain under the radar, DEV-0537 doesn't seem to cover its tracks,” Microsoft said in a blog post. “They go to the extreme of advertising their attacks on social media or publicizing their intention to buy credentials from employees of target organizations. DEV-0537 began targeting organizations in the UK and South America, but expanded to global goals, including organizations in the government, technology, telecommunications, media, retail and healthcare sectors.”

The teenage hacker's personal information in England, including his address and information about his parents, was published online by rival hackers.

The direction was attended by a Bloomberg journalist, who interviewed a woman who identified herself as the child's mother. For about 10 minutes they talked through a doorbell intercom system. The house was described as “a modest townhouse on a quiet side street”.

The woman said she was not aware of the accusations against her son or the leaked materials. She said she was upset that videos and photos of her home and the teenager's father's house were included. The mother said that the teenager lives at that address and that others had harassed him, but many of the other leaked details could not be confirmed by the media.

They say that he refused to talk about his son in any way or make him available for an interview, and said that the problem was a matter for law enforcement and that he was communicating with the police.

(With information from Bloomberg)

KEEP READING