PANews reported on November 21 that according to Bloomberg, US prosecutors have charged five suspected members of the "Scattered Spider" hacker group with participating in a series of cyber attacks against US companies and individuals. These attacks resulted in the theft of at least $11 million in cryptocurrency and the leakage of sensitive data.
The group obtained the account credentials of corporate employees mainly through phishing SMS and SIM card swapping, thereby illegally accessing the company network and stealing data. The defendants include Noah Urban (20 years old), Joel Evans (25 years old), Ahmed Elbadawy (23 years old), Evans Osiebo (20 years old) from the United States, and Tyler Buchanan (22 years old) from Scotland. Court documents show that their targets include 29 individuals and several American companies, including telecommunications companies, IT outsourcing companies and a cryptocurrency company.
Some of the stolen assets have been recovered, amounting to about $4 million. Law enforcement authorities found that the hackers were also involved in forging websites to deceive victims and stealing employee account credentials and customer databases from targeted companies. Prosecutors said the group was also linked to attacks on MGM Resorts, Coinbase and other companies. A member of the group was previously arrested and pleaded guilty to SIM card swap-related charges. The case is under further investigation.
