Police arrest a teenage boy in connection with the MGM Resorts ransomware attack

A teenage boy could also be accountable for a ransomware assault that in Las Vegas final yr. in England confirmed that they arrested an unidentified 17-year-old on Thursday from the city of Walsall who allegedly shut down the resort and on line casino on the Las Vegas strip final yr.

{The teenager} was arrested on suspicion of blackmail and violating the UK’s Laptop Misuse Act. He was launched on bail, based on a press release from the police division.

Police officers tracked the teenage suspect as a part of a joint investigation with the UK’s Nationwide Crime Company and the FBI. The police division stated they recovered proof on the teenager’s tackle together with “quite a lot of digital gadgets which can bear forensic examination.”

The assertion additionally stated {the teenager} was a part of a “world cyber on-line crime group” however didn’t specify which group. The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group introduced their duty for the . The assault occurred on Sep. 12, 2023 allegedly with a easy 10 minute cellphone name to a Assist desk worker utilizing info obtained from LinkedIn. The group has additionally claimed duty for the same ransomware assault on the sweetness model .

“All ALPHV ransomware group did to compromise MGM Resorts was hop on LinkedIn, discover an worker, then name the Assist Desk,” the group wrote in a submit on X.

MGM Resorts’ system shutdown lasted for and created a large outage throughout all of its casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. Information later surfaced that different casinos like Caesars had been additionally focused by a distinct group however selected to pay the hackers tens of tens of millions of {dollars} to stop personal firm knowledge from being launched.