Teenager arrested in the UK over MGM hacking

In 2023 MGM Resorts International suffered a cyber incident, a large-scale attack on its informational infrastructure that sent automated services on the fritz, dealt a blow to third-quarter earnings that year, and ultimately stole away with the personal information of millions of mostly American citizens, among whom was Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission Chair, whose agency has spearheaded a lawsuit against the hospitality giant, purportedly because Khan herself suffered from the data leak as she was staying at an MGM Resorts property in September 2023.

MGM hackers caught as one person already arrested

The time of reckoning has come, although the discovery has not been any less surprising than the actual hacker attack. According to authorities in the United Kingdom, a 17-year-old individual had been arrested in connection with the attack, largely attributed to Scattered Spider and ALPHV, powerful hacking syndicates that have launched a volley of debilitating attacks against private and public sector companies over the past several years, racking up millions in ransom money.

Scattered Spider reportedly browbeat Caesars Entertainment, another hospitality giant, into paying a $15m ransom to avoid disruptions (which it surprisingly did). The arrest of the 17-year-old individual adds a new timestamp to the MGM hack timeline and brings investigators closer to discovering at least some of the agents behind the attack.

The suspect was apprehended by the Regional Organised Crime Unit for the West Midlands in Wallsal, UK last Thursday, and has since been released on bail. His arrest was a careful joint operation between the UK’s National Crime Agency and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, aided by MGM Resorts International.

The arrest is an important breakthrough in demonstrating law enforcement’s prowess in tackling ransomware threats and attacks and bringing responsible parties to justice. Although the arrested individual is not yet charged, they have been tracked down by global sleuths and spooks, demonstrating that not even the feared Scattered Spider organization is impervious to law enforcement.

MGM hack status updated, but the full picture is missing

The MGM hack wrought havoc on MGM Resorts International and ten of its properties across the United States. Among the difficulties experienced by the affected properties were the inability to process credit cards, along with the company’s website and app suffering an outage, and in-casino ATMs stopping to function. Key cards for hotel rooms were also disabled further adding to dissatisfied holidaymakers’ bad humour.

"These cyber groups have targeted well-known organizations with ransomware and they have successfully targeted multiple victims around the world taking from them significant amounts of money", said ROCU Detective Inspector Hinesh Mehta in a public statement. Although ransomware threats have become increasingly serious, law enforcement still recommends that companies contact relevant authorities and refuse to pay any ransom to hackers.

This is not the first time MGM Resorts International has suffered the advances of hackers and criminals. In 2019, the company reported a similar cyber incident in which the personal data of 10.6m people were exposed. Cybersecurity incidents continued to be a sustained threat to private and state businesses, with Scattered Spider just one of the many formidable hacking outfits that pose a serious risk to the sectors, galvanizing a strong business and state immune reaction in the form of toughening cyber security and education.

Image credit: FBI