Microsoft Hacked By A Teenager
A teenager singlehandedly hacked Microsoft.
This article is more than 2 years old
A group of teenagers has been terrorizing many technology corporations for several weeks. Companies such as Samsung, Ubisoft, and Okta all have had internal issues with this hacker group. The group, known online as Lapsus$, has taken credit for the infiltrations and access to many private companies’ data. Microsoft is just the recent victim of this series of anonymous attacks.
An English teenager may spearhead Microsoft’s inconceivable data breach. This supposed teen is being investigated by four different researchers, yearning to find out the teenager’s identity and motive. The teenager in question uses the aliases “White” and “breachbase” when maneuvering online, but their identity remains anonymous to the public. Law enforcement also is having trouble connecting this person to the Microsoft hack since there’s no specific evidence that ties “White” with this particular infiltration.
Over the past week, police tracked down a suspect that they thought could be the Lapsus$ hacker. The teen was located at home just outside of Oxford University, which was soon approached by the publication Bloomberg to ask further questions. Bloomberg reporters spoke with the suspect’s mother about the Microsoft hack through an intercom, where she declared no knowledge about the hack or her son’s involvement. She stated that the investigation was a matter between law enforcement and her son, not reporters.
Leads about this particular teenager spearheading the Microsoft hack came out through online doxing from other hackers. People from rival hacking groups posted public information about the teenager and his home address, which was law enforcement’s first indication of the English resident’s involvement. Police furthered their information through forensic evidence from the breach, solidifying the teenager as a solid suspect.
Though the top dog of Lapsus$ is this English-born teen, the group consists of seven members across the globe. One account was able to be traced thousands of miles away in Brazil. The seven accounts are so technically impressive that researchers assumed that the hacks were automated. There’s still no conclusive tie to which Lapsus$ member was involved in the Microsoft breach, but it’s reasonably sure the group was fully responsible.
Considering many hacking groups attack powerful companies for monetary gain, the Lapsus$ group has become a puzzling collective due to their motives. The group consistently boasts about their hacks online, identifying when they’ve breached corporations like Microsoft. Since they’re unafraid of allowing others to see their achievements, it’s an informed assumption that Lapsus$ wants attention and notoriety more than monetary gains. The group is also known to infiltrate Zoom calls of the companies they’re targeting, publically showcasing their hacking involvement.
Microsoft recently came out with a public statement to notify the public of the damage. The company stated that private information was indeed breached but that the impact was extremely limited and handled quickly. Microsoft also elaborated on the targeting of Lapsus$, saying that the hacking group was more focused on British and South American companies initially but have spread their targets to worldwide agencies. These targets have ranged from government groups, telecoms, healthcare companies, and revered tech corporations.
