Cybersecurity researchers trace Lapsus$ attacks to a teenager from England
. While the researchers have identified seven accounts associated with the hacking group — including one traced to another teenager in Brazil — they believe the teenager from England is the mastermind and is behind some of the major Lapsus$ hacks. However, they weren't able to connect the teen to all the attacks the group carried out.
The researchers looked at forensic evidence from the hacks, as well as public information to determine that the teen was indeed involved. Apparently, rival hackers posted the teenager's details online, including his address and information about his parents.didn't release the teen's personal information and only mentioned that he goes by the aliases"White" and"breachbase.
Some cybersecurity researchers believe that the group is motivated by not just money, but also notoriety, seeing as the actor doesn't cover its tracks. As Microsoft detailed in its investigation of the Lapsus$ attacks, the group even announces its hacks on social media and publicly posts calls for employees willing to sell their company logins. The bad actor also joins targets' communications channels, such as their Zoom calls, to taunt the people responding to their attacks.
Microsoft said the group started by targeting organizations in United Kingdom and South America, but that it has since expanded to target entities around the world, including government agencies, telecoms, and companies in the health sector. Both Microsoft and Okta admitted that they suffered a security breach, but bothAll products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links.