Authorities in the Walsall have taken an unnamed 17 year old teenager into custody surrounding allegations of their involvement in the far-reaching MGM Resorts ransomware attacks that took place last September.
Serious Charges
The West Midlands Police Department, the authority in charge of the Walsall area, has confirmed the arrest. They have stated that the man is suspected of blackmail and for violating the UK’s Computer Misuse Act. He is currently on bail.
The arrest has come following a joint investigation by the UK’s National Crime Agency and the FBI. The authorities have seized several devices, but the level of involvement and exact acts have not yet been revealed.
Significant Disruptions
The cyber attack in question took place last September and caused significant disruptions for BetMGM, targeting both the company’s online and physical machines and casinos. The site’s venue on the Vegas Strip was hit significantly, with machines being out of action and the company losing a lot of money as a result.
The teenager in question has been linked to a global cybercrime group, but the group was not specified. The investigation is still ongoing as the FBI and UK National Crime Agency continue to find the individuals involved.
The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group has claimed they were behind the BetMGM attacks in September. The group mocked the company on X/Twitter, stating it all it needed to do to cause the disruption was to find a BetMGM employee on Linkedin and to call the Help Desk. The attacks resulted in the company being offline for nine days.
Caesars Entertainment was also targeted during this period, but a different group has claimed responsibility for this. Caesars were said to have paid out millions of dollars in order to prevent the release of private data.
