In a recent update regarding cybercrime, the FBI revealed that the Scatted Spider group, responsible for the hacking of American hotels last year, consists of approximately 1000 individuals. The announcement was made by Brian Wordran, the Assistant Director of the FBI cyber unit, during a conference on cybercrime.
Wordran described the Scatted Spider group as very large and fragmented, with most participants being unfamiliar with each other. The group, which emerged from “The COM” online community, is also known as “0KTAPUS” or UNC3944. The FBI highlighted that SCATTered Spider is now ranked among the top three cyber threats worldwide, alongside foreign intelligence agencies.
The majority of Scatted Spider members are young individuals from the USA and Great Britain. The group specializes in social engineering techniques, particularly in infiltrating privileged networks through support services. Once inside a network, Scatted Spider demonstrates a high level of efficiency in navigating systems and extracting data, occasionally collaborating with extortion groups.
The cyber attack on MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment last year, resulting in disruptions to casinos and hotels in Las Vegas, significantly elevated the status of Scatted Spider within the cybercrime community.
Interestingly, Scatted Spider members are known to form various smaller groups within their larger community, which sometimes work together or compete. Some of these groups focus exclusively on aggressive tactics, such as threats and attacks to coerce ransom payments from victims.
Despite criticisms of the FBI regarding the lack of visible progress in apprehending Scatted Spider members, the agency asserts that significant efforts are being made, though not all actions are disclosed publicly. They emphasize that active work is ongoing to address the issue.
Security researchers stress the need to allocate resources and attention to combat cybercrime on par with the focus given to state-sponsored cyber threats. According to Selena Larson from Proofpoint, non-governmental organizations are more vulnerable to cybercrime than attacks by nation-states.