UK police allegedly nab another Lizard Squad hacker on suspicion of cyber-fraud
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Reports are continuing to trickle in about more members of Lizard Squad garnering the attention of international authorities. On December 29th, Vinnie Omari, a 22-year-old British citizen was arrested by law enforcement agents from the South East Regional Organized Crime Unit and his home was raided. The Daily Dot confirmed the arrest and search via a scan of the warrant sent to them by Omari.
“They took everything,” Omari told The Daily Dot in an e-mail. “Xbox one, phones, laptops, computer USBs, etc.”
Internet mayhem group Lizard Squad took credit for the Christmas Day distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks against the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live that left millions of customers out in the cold.
The arrest and search by British authorities, however, did not stem from the Christmas Day DDoS. Instead, a press release from the Thames Valley Police confirms the arrest of a 22-year-old man who was taken in on Monday before New Year’s Day “on suspicion of fraud by false representation and Computer Misuse Act offense.”
Omari was released on bail Tuesday of last week. No charges had been filed against him, but The Daily Dot reports that the arrest and raid arose from suspected crimes in 2013. Omari declined to give details as to what crimes those might be.
So far, Omari is not the only alleged Lizard Squad member to attract the attention of international authorities. The FBI have allegedly sought “ryanc” or Ryan for unknown crimes. Ryan is an alleged Lizard Squad member who lives in Finland and has spoken openly to the media on several occasions.
Lizard Squad gone dark but leaving behind legacy
Last Tuesday, Lizard Squad signaled a cessation of activities but not before releasing a publicly-available DDoS tool called the “Lizard Stressor.” The tool, which Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security notes was lifted almost entirely from another DDoS-for-hire product, allows anyone from the public to pay a subscription fee to direct DDoS pretty much anywhere.
No word on if this tool has been actively used yet.
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