Teen arrested in ‘sophisticated cyber crime’ attacks against Las Vegas casinos
A teenager has been arrested in a “sophisticated cyber crime” case in connection with cyberattacks on Las Vegas casinos in 2023, police said Friday.
The Metropolitan Police Department didn’t specifically say which casinos were targeted, but MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment were targeted in 2023.
“Between August 2023 and October 2023, multiple Las Vegas casino properties became the targets of sophisticated network intrusions which were attributed to an organized cyber threat-actor group known by several names to include, ‘Scattered Spider’, ‘Octo Tempest’, ‘UNC3944, and/or ‘0ktapus’,” a Metro press release said Friday.
MGM Resorts International didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday. A Caesars Entertainment spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Police said that the FBI’s Las Vegas Cyber Task Force, which includes Metro’s Cyber Investigative Group, took over the investigation “due to the nature of the crime.” Detectives identified a teenage boy as a suspect, police said.
On Wednesday, police said, the juvenile suspect surrendered at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, where he was booked on numerous charges including three counts of obtaining and using personal identifying information of another person to harm or impersonate a person; one count of extortion; one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and one count of unlawful acts regarding computers.
“The Clark County District Attorney’s Office is seeking to transfer the juvenile to the criminal division, where he would face these charges as an adult,” the Metro press release said.
Review-Journal staff reporter Bryan Horwath contributed to this report.