MGM hacked / all computer systems down.

[Sanlmar]

I have made the decision to rely on you exclusively, Sonatine, for MGM news. I am monogamous

I am all in. This story has taken an unexpected turn. It is getting better.

[sonatine]

who doesnt love a happy ending

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/DailyLoud/status/1703057747388874904

[desertrunner]

[TheXFactor]

Getting pwned by 17 year old kids...PRICELESS!!!

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/twt/status/1705356391517675754

[sonatine]

yeah the reason why Lapsus$ et all roll with so many minors is that it severely limits their legal exposure.


factor in the UK's fondness for giving a pass to anyone who cries autism and you have a real fertile brew for aggressive and highly profitable criminality.

[Dan Druff]

yeah the reason why Lapsus$ et all roll with so many minors is that it severely limits their legal exposure.


factor in the UK's fondness for giving a pass to anyone who cries autism and you have a real fertile brew for aggressive and highly profitable criminality.

Boy the hackers prosecuted in the '80s and '90s must really wish they had the autism defense back then

[David USF]

Bumping this for a 4/14/24 60 Minutes story on the incident.

[desertrunner]

Thanks for sharing.

[mickeycrimm]

Bumping this for a 4/14/24 60 Minutes story on the incident.

Last week Anthony Curtis was wondering how much airtime he would get in this 60 Minutes piece. He also wondered if they would include something he told them about the hackers. He said the hackers reminded him of professional gamblers that know more about what they are doing than the people trying to prevent it from happening. He got more airtime than he predicted but the line about professional gamblers didn't make the cut.

[Dan Druff]

BUMP

There's been arrests. At least the Scattered Spider kids.

https://www.casino.org/news/feds-nam...ttered-spider/

https://www.reuters.com/technology/c...me-2024-11-20/


And of interest to me is one of them named Tyler Robert Buchanan.

Why? Because this article from SBC America claims that it was my investigation on the 2022 BetMGM fraud which led to this dude's arrest!!!

However, I found no other articles linking this to the BetMGM fraud, except for one which erroneously called MGM casinos "BetMGM".

So I think this might just be confusion. But I messaged the author of the SBC article to make sure.

Would be kinda cool if I had a role in catching these dudes, even if unintentionally.

[Dan Druff]

I should also mention that, last I heard, San Diego area law enforcement told me that a local fraud ring was responsible for the BetMGM shit, and they had made arrests.

So this would contradict any of this having to do with Scattered Spider.

Also, I don't believe that any SIM swapping occurred (or was necessary) to do the BetMGM thefts.

[desertrunner]

BUMP


The teenager turned himself in- Teen boy arrested, faces charges related to cyberattack that disrupted Las Vegas Strip casinos

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A suspect has been arrested in a cyberattack that disrupted MGM properties on the Las Vegas Strip in 2023, sources confirmed Friday.

The attack, which occurred between August and October 2023, was attributed to an organized cyber threat actor group known by several names, including Scattered Spider, Octo Tempest, UNC3944 and 0ktapus, police said.

According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department release, a teenage boy was identified as a suspect in the case. He surrendered to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center. He faces three counts of obtaining and using personal identifying information of another person to harm or impersonate; one count of extortion; one count of conspiracy to commit extortion; and one count of unlawful acts regarding computers.

The attack, which MGM reported cost the company approximately $100 million, brought down its centralized online services. Employee services and casino operations were affected.

[Dan Druff]

He must have been really young when this occurred, if he's still a minor, two years later!

I never got a clear answer as to whether or not my investigation into the BetMGM fraud in 2022 led them to later busting these Scattered Spider kids. I still think the author of that SBC article confused the two.

I tried to ask the author, but he didn't tell me anything useful, perhaps not wanting to admit he got it wrong.


Anyway, it has been long known that teenagers were responsible for a lot of this, but the surprising thing is that one of them was from Vegas. I hadn't thought this was a local job, because there were no local elements to it. Additionally, a teenager in Vegas would not have been very useful from the standpoint of being local, as he would not be able to case the casino for any perceived vulnerabilities. Probably a coincidence.

Since the kid was under 18 at the time this happened (presumably 15 or younger), there is a good chance he will get off relatively lightly.

[Dan Druff]

The other big problem with this incident was that it elevated the awful "Jen G" aka "Starfish Jen" into Twitter prominence.

She was fairly good at covering this, but once this netted her a ton of followers, she became a dishonest shill, posting "reviews" of places that were likely compensating her in some way, and other times just pushing clickbait.

In one video, she stole my content form Vegas Casino Talk, cut off the name of the site, and didn't give me or the site credit. I threatened to sue her if she did this shit again (because her channel is for profit, and nobody is taking my shit for free if they're using it to profit!)

[sonatine]

He must have been really young when this occurred, if he's still a minor, two years later!

the eastern euro ransomware groups recruit tweens to run point on this shit because they are so complicated to prosecute. they especially love UK kids because once they get 'diagnosed' as autistic the bar for successful prosecution is like 10x higher.

[lol wow]

robuchon potatos remain undefeated at mgm

[Tellafriend]

robuchon potatos remain undefeated at mgm

smartest thing you have ever uttered.

[lol wow]

lol todge who is this nerd and why does he think hes allowed to talk to me be better vetting ur dumb posters danny dradles

[Dan Druff]

He must have been really young when this occurred, if he's still a minor, two years later!

the eastern euro ransomware groups recruit tweens to run point on this shit because they are so complicated to prosecute. they especially love UK kids because once they get 'diagnosed' as autistic the bar for successful prosecution is like 10x higher.

I think a tough conversation needs to be had in general regarding prosecution of underage hackers, and it should be centered around motive plus actions.

If it's just hacking for hacking's sake, or if it's some kind of mostly harmless prank, then I can totally see going light on the kid.

However, if it's a breach of massive personal info databases followed by distribution of said information, that's no small potatoes, and needs to be dealt with seriously, regardless of whether or not the kid is young and/or autistic.

And it's even more true that if it involves ransomware or any other kind of ransom demands, it should especially be dealt with harshly.

Huge difference between, "Lol I got into this big company's system, let's see what I can do to fuck with them" and "Pay us $50 million in bitcoin or we are going to destroy everything."

[sonatine]

the eastern euro ransomware groups recruit tweens to run point on this shit because they are so complicated to prosecute. they especially love UK kids because once they get 'diagnosed' as autistic the bar for successful prosecution is like 10x higher.

I think a tough conversation needs to be had in general regarding prosecution of underage hackers, and it should be centered around motive plus actions.

If it's just hacking for hacking's sake, or if it's some kind of mostly harmless prank, then I can totally see going light on the kid.

However, if it's a breach of massive personal info databases followed by distribution of said information, that's no small potatoes, and needs to be dealt with seriously, regardless of whether or not the kid is young and/or autistic.

And it's even more true that if it involves ransomware or any other kind of ransom demands, it should especially be dealt with harshly.

Huge difference between, "Lol I got into this big company's system, let's see what I can do to fuck with them" and "Pay us $50 million in bitcoin or we are going to destroy everything."

real talk i just dont have an answer to it. a lot of the heavy hitters in DFIR are in a state of perpetual emotional collapse because so many of their investigations end at the kids and theres no real consequences and it only emboldens the bad actors. and the scenario is often like, the kiddies will basically get the footholds, gain persistence, etc etc and hand off control. and they have no idea if it goes nowhere or a casino gets rumbled for 9 figures or a hospital gets ransomwared.

i think ultimately the only way to solve this is to hold the parents financially responsible for the childs actions but what do you do with them after the state strips them of every penny they have? are kids realllllly going to stop doing it regardless?

its a sticky wicket.