A 17-year-old boy in Oxfordshire was arrested on suspicion of hacking by the City of London Police on Thursday, as part of an investigation supported by the UK’s National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU). The suspect remains in police custody.
The news about the arrest was released by the City of London Police through their official Twitter handle.
On the evening of Thursday 22 September 2022, the City of London Police arrested a 17-year-old in Oxfordshire on suspicion of hacking, as part of an investigation supported by the @NCA_UK’s National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU).
He remains in police custody. pic.twitter.com/Zfa3OlDR6J
— City of London Police (@CityPolice) September 23, 2022
While the city police department has not released any further information about the person in custody, popular ex-Reuters journalist Matthew Keys wrote based on unknown sources that the 17-year-old’s arrest was “related to intrusion on Rockstar Games and possibly Uber Technologies” and “was done in concert with an investigation conducted by the FBI, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.”
The arrested teenager is believed to be connected to a group identifying itself as “Lapsus$,” a group that organizes primarily via Telegram channels. He is the same teenager who was arrested in March 2022 by the City of London Police for generating some $14 million (£10.6m) from cybercrime.
UPDATE: The 17-year-old hacking suspect was arrested in Oxfordshire and is believed to be connected to a group identifying itself as "Lapsus$," a group that organizes primarily via Telegram channels.
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) September 23, 2022
The news of the arrest follows after Rockstar Games confirmed last week that an “unauthorised third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information” from its systems.
Shortly after the GTA 6 leak, Uber too released a statement regarding a recent cybersecurity incident of its own and acknowledged that the potential links leaked could be valid, adding that Lapsus$ (though this is not confirmed) may have been behind both hacks.
“We believe that this attacker or attackers are affiliated with a hacking group called Lapsus which has been increasingly active over the last year or so. This group typically uses similar techniques to target technology companies, and in 2022 alone has breached Microsoft, Cisco, Samsung, Nvidia, and Okta, among others,” Uber explained in a security update.
Uber said that it is working in close coordination with the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice on this matter.
