Three teenage males and a young woman hauled away by cops, suspected of hacking huge  retailers.

Alleged Arachnid Arrests

What’s the craic? James Davey and Sam Tabahriti report: UK police arrest four over cyberattacks

“Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods”
Britain’s National Crime Agency said on Thursday [three] males aged 19, 19 and 17 and a 20-year-old woman had been detained in the English West Midlands and London on suspicion of Computer Misuse Act offences, blackmail, money laundering and participating in organised crime. All were arrested at home, had their electronic devices seized, and were being questioned by the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit.
…
[It is] part of a police investigation into cyberattacks that disrupted the operations of UK retailers Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Harrods. … April’s ransomware attack on M&S, one of the best known names in British business, was the most serious, forcing it to suspend online clothing shopping for nearly seven weeks and costing it about 300 million pounds ($400 million) in operating profit.

Are they part of Scattered Spider? Laura Onita, Suzi Ring and Philip Stafford speak to a deep throat: UK crime agency arrests 4 people

“M&S thanked the NCA”
The people are believed to be linked to the cyber criminal group Scattered Spider, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. … Unlike some ransomware gangs, Scattered Spider is a loose group of affiliates. The group — characterised by cyber security experts as male, trash-talking, English-speaking fraudsters — typically steals data for the purpose of extortion.
…
The NCA declined to comment on the affiliation of those arrested. M&S thanked the NCA “for its diligent work on this incident”. The Co-op said: “Hacking is not a victimless crime. … We have engaged fully with the NCA and relevant authorities and are pleased … to see this had led to these arrests today.”

So they’re all Brits? Not exactly, according to Alexander Martin: Four arrested by UK police

“One of the Agency’s highest priorities”
All four are now in custody. … The individuals are a 20-year-old British woman from Staffordshire, a 19-year-old Latvian male from the West Midlands, a 19-year-old British man from London and a 17-year-old British male from the West Midlands.
…
“Since these attacks took place, specialist NCA cybercrime investigators have been working at pace and the investigation remains one of the Agency’s highest priorities,” said Paul Foster, the head of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit. “Today’s arrests are a significant step in that investigation but our work continues, alongside partners in the UK and overseas, to ensure those responsible are identified and brought to justice. … Hopefully this signals to future victims the importance of seeking support and engaging with law enforcement as part of the reporting process.”.

Did they do it, though? Chris Stokel-Walker rightly assumes innocence:

These arrests are only on suspicion of offences of course. But regardless of those arrested’s innocence or guilt, the speed at which arrests have come is really quick compared to previous allegations around cybercrime.

Pesky kids. Won’t Paul Bernal think of the children?

So often the suggestion is made that these are ‘sophisticated’ hacks from foreign hacking teams, but the reality is often … kids.

But smarter than script kiddies? Yes, of course, thinks Anthony, of course:

As someone who was involved with a UK schools programme to get teenagers into cyber security, I can say with absolute certainty that … just because they’re young doesn’t mean that it wasn’t sophisticated. Doesn’t mean it was, either, but some kids are ridiculously talented.

Is it reasonable to do some victim blaming? Yes, says this Anonymous Coward:

The moral of the story? Catalin Cimpanu draws this lesson:

These arrests are the definition of, “Don’t **** where you eat.”

Meanwhile, Kevin Beaumont reminds us what he said a couple of months ago:

You aren’t going to get owned by quantum dark blockchain AI. You’re going to get owned by somebody with a British accent phoning up your Service Desk at 2pm on a Friday with a kebab in their mouth.

And Finally:

What could you do with this much free time?

Previously in And Finally

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