Oxford teen living with mother may be mastermind behind Lapsus$
The person behind the infamous Lapsus$ hacking organisation has supposedly been discovered - and is a 16-year-old boy living with his mother in Oxford.
According to Bloomberg, four researchers probing Lapsus$ on behalf of hacked firms said they believe the teenager played a key role in conducting many of those attacks.
Microsoft, Samsung, Nvidia, Okta, and Ubisoft are among the companies that Lapsus$ has claimed responsibility for breaching.
Microsoft said on Wednesday that Lapsus$ had gained limited access to its system. Okta also admitted that the group had hacked it, affecting some customers.
Bloomberg did not reveal the identity of the suspected hacker, who uses online names "White" and "Breachbase," as the he is a minor and hasn't been officially charged with a crime.
The teenager is said to have collected a $14 million (about £10.6 million) fortune via hacking. His high level skills first led researchers to assume they were seeing automated activity.
The boy's mother spoke with one of Bloomberg's reporters for around 10 minutes over a doorbell intercom system at the family's house, which is about five miles from the centre of Oxford.
She reportedly denied knowing about the claims against her son and refused to make him accessible for an interview.
The woman expressed her dissatisfaction with the reporters' gathering of personal information, which included video recordings of her house, being uploaded online.
The teen's residence was described as a modest terraced house on a quiet side street in Oxfordshire. Being five miles from Oxford city centre could put the house in a number of towns, including Abingdon to the south and Kidlington to the north, as well as any number of smaller villages.
Rival hackers are said to have exposed the teenager's identity. They allegedly revealed his name, address, social media images and hacking career history.
According to the BBC, the boy's father was ignorant of his son's participation with the gang.
"I had never heard about any of this until recently. He's never talked about any hacking, but he is very good on computers and spends a lot of time on the computer," he said.
"I always thought he was playing games. We're going to try to stop him from going on computers."
The teen suffers from autism and attends a special education school in Oxford.
Allison Nixon, chief research officer at cyber-security firm Unit 221B, told the BBC that researchers followed the teen via a trail of activities connected by an almost uninterrupted stream of online accounts.
The City of London Police have also detained seven teens for their suspected links to the Lapsus$ gang, although it is unclear if the Oxford-based individual is one of them.
Detective Inspector Michael O'Sullivan of the City of London Police said they had been investigating members of a hacking gang.
"Seven people between the ages of 16 and 21 have been arrested in connection with this investigation and have all been released under investigation. Our enquiries remain ongoing."
Lapsus$ group, which is thought to be based in South America, also includes a youngster from Brazil, among others, according to Bloomberg.