Alleged leader of Scattered Spider ransomware gang arrested in Spain

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

0 1 minute read

Spanish police have arrested a possible leader of the notorious Scattered Spider ransomware gang. This arrest is part of the ongoing investigation by US police and the FBI intelligence agency into the gang's activities.

According to the Spanish press, a 22-year-old British man was arrested at Palma de Mallorca airport before boarding a plane bound for Italy. Experts identified this Briton as Tyler Buchanan, leader of the Scattered Spider gang. This group has significant overlap with the Octo Tempest and UNC3944 ransomware gangs.

The FBI requested the arrest based on lengthy investigations. A judge in Los Angeles had issued an arrest warrant against the Briton for hacking professional accounts and stealing data. For this, he received 27 million dollars (more than 25 million euros) in Bitcoin.

Attack on MGM Resorts starting in 2023

More specifically, Tyler Buchanan is said to be an expert in SIM swapping. He was also allegedly involved in the famous ransomware attack against MGM Resorts last September, which led to the complete shutdown of all operational activities of this group of casinos and hotels. It is unclear whether he was also involved in the simultaneous attack on the Caesars casino and hotel group.

Read also: Hacking of MGM casinos leads to theft of personal data and huge costs

SIM swapping and extortion

Scattered Spider has been active since 2022 and primarily uses sophisticated social engineering tactics for its attacks. Initially, these attacks focused on SIM swaps for number porting, but the tactics quickly expanded to ransomware and extortion. This included collaboration with another notorious ransomware gang, ALPHV/BlackCat.

To extort its victims, Scattered Spider/Octo Tempest not only applies psychological pressure but, in some cases, also issues physical threats. It is not yet known whether the suspect in this case will be extradited to the United States from Spain.

Learn more: Octo Tempest: Microsoft warns of aggressive hacker gang