The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) has confirmed that a teenage boy was arrested in relation to the cyberattacks perpetrated against gaming and hospitality companies in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2023.
The suspect had turned himself in, and while his identity has not been revealed to the public, the police have already followed up, with the boy placed at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center.
Teenager Turns Himself in Over Involvement in Cyberattack Against Vegas Casinos
He is facing six felony charges, among which are three counts of obtaining and using personal identifying information to harm or impersonate another person, one count of extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, and one count of unlawful acts regarding computers.
The seriousness of the offense may see the teenager tried as an adult, doing away with some of the protections that the law normally confers onto adolescent and teenage offenders.
The arrest of the teenager follows a successful investigation led by the FBI’s Las Vegas Cyber Task Force, which arrested four men aged 20 to 23, who were accused of carrying out cybercrimes, but were never formally tied to the MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment, the companies that suffered in the attack.
It is not clear why the teenager chose to surrender. It is possible that authorities already knew about him and his involvement, and had contacted his parents or guardians, leading the teenager to do the only reasonable thing – turn himself in and argue his defense rather than spend his lifetime as a fugitive.
Multiple Counts, Decades of Possible Prison Time
The attacks in 2023 were attributed to Scattered Spider, an international hacking cooperative that has been incredibly successful in targeting and disrupting foreign operations. The teenager is facing decades in prison, up to a lifetime, if there are no mitigating factors in his involvement, other than his age.
As to the losses incurred by the companies, MGM Resorts International followed through with law enforcement advice and refused to pay the ransom, which led to operational losses of $100 million along with 10 days of discontinued operations. Caesars Entertainment supposedly played down the ransom to $15 million, from $30 million originally, but it is not clear how much the company lost because of the attack.