Lizard Squad, which recently hit limelight with its attacks on Sony and Microsoft’s gaming networks this Christmas is back in news and this time the trouble has come knocking on its doors. Two members of the group have been arrested, one from UK and other one from Finland.
Vinnie Omari, a 22-year-old member of the group Lizard Squad, was arrested on Monday after British law enforcement agents from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit raided his home. Law enforcement officials reportedly seized phones, laptops and an Xbox from Omari’s home for evidence. Omari is out currently on bail until his hearing in March.
Omari, who is a student of network security and ethical hacking, has said he is simply a spokesman for Lizard Squad – and denies having any part in the attack on Sony and Microsoft.
Thames Valley police has issued a press release for the same – “The South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) has arrested a 22-year-old man from Twickenham on suspicion of fraud by false representation and Computer Misuse Act offences.”
Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) picked up another alleged member of the Lizard Squad later in the week. The 17-year-old, known as “Ryan,” acted as a spokesperson for the group in the aftermath of the Christmas attacks. Unlike Omari, Lizard Squad told The Washington Post that Ryan remains in jail.
Lizard Squad had recently had several cyber attacks majorly on Sony Network. An American Airlines flight bearing a Sony executive also had to be diverted in August when the hackers tweeted a bomb threat to the airline. The group had also given Sony employees logins to ‘Guardians of Peace’, the hackers suspected of breaking into Sony’s network and initially prompting the company to pull The Interview from theaters.
Brians Krebs of KrebsonSecurity also wrote in his blog that the young hooligans might turn on one another after the arrests and criticised the group’s technical abilities, claiming that the source code for Lizard Stresser, a recently released DDoS-for-hire service was stolen from another similar tool called titaniumstresser.
Sony’s PlayStation Network, is making up for the mess with a five-day membership extension to the online service. Members whose membership or trial ends before the extension is available will get five days of Plus to enjoy once the extension becomes available.