Police in Brazil say they’ve arrested a suspected member of LAPSUS$, a cybercriminal gang that was most recently tied to hacks on Uber and Grand Theft Auto 6 developer Rockstar Games.
The Federal Police of Brazil arrested the suspect on Wednesday in the city of Feira de Santana, which is near the eastern coast of the country.
The agency didn’t offer details about the suspect or how they're linked to the hacking gang. However, the LAPSUS$ gang first made headlines when it infiltrated several Brazilian government sites and companies in December 2021. This included hacking into Brazil’s Ministry of Health and stealing data on COVID-19 vaccination certificates while defacing the ministry’s website.
In response, police in Brazil launched an operation in August to investigate the gang behind the string of hacks. The law enforcement agency is now accusing LAPSUS$ of committing crimes including invasion of computer devices, preventing their restoration, and corrupting minors.
The arrest occurs almost a month after police in London arrested a 17-year-old who may be part of the LAPSUS$ hacking gang. The teen allegedly breached Uber and Rockstar Games, which led to footage from Grand Theft Auto 6 being leaked online.
Uber also pointed the finger at LAPSUS$ for a hack that gave a hacker full access to the company's internal systems, noting that both breaches were apparently pulled off by a hacker who goes by the name "Tea Pot" online, using similar tactics.
In February and March, LAPSUS$ also successfully breached Nvidia, Samsung, Okta, and Microsoft. In April, police in London charged a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old for their connections to the gang. However, rumors circulated online that at least one of the teens was later released.