What Really Happened in the Aftermath of the Lizard Squad Hacks

Although galore information experts angrily railed against nan media’s portrayal of Lizard Squad arsenic “sophisticated,” group grudgingly came to judge that nan Christmas onslaught did person a large effect connected cybersecurity and nan gaming industry. There’s small uncertainty that this was not nan group’s motive—despite their clumsy attempts to declare truthful successful interviews. But it was a wake-up call. Security website SecurityAffairs wrote a “lessons learned” portion by dissecting my question and reply pinch Kivimäki. Many group considered Lizard Squad book kiddies, they wrote, adding, “This attack is wholly wrong.”

The size of nan onslaught unleashed connected that time would beryllium shrugged disconnected by astir modern sites, but DDoS attacks are still commonplace and are getting much powerful. Expensive protection services are now a must-have for immoderate statement that needs to enactment online.

The attacks besides started thing of a cybercrime trend. In 2024 Europol unveiled an world rule enforcement cognition to return DDoS services down successful December: “The festive play has agelong been a highest play for hackers to transportation retired immoderate of their astir disruptive DDoS attacks, causing terrible financial loss, reputational damage, and operational chaos for their victims,” nan statement said successful a statement.

At nan time of Lizard Squad’s attacks, nan wide nationalist was stunned. Despite Lizard Squad being connected nan tail extremity of a activity of teenage hacking groups successful nan 2010s, location was small consciousness of nan powerfulness that could beryllium wielded by these different amateur attackers. There mightiness person been a vague emotion successful nan zeitgeist that “hackers successful hoodies successful their bedrooms” were progressively causing problems, but this onslaught was immediate, unmissable, and easy to understand. It was of people besides easy to get angry about. Over nan adjacent mates of days I came backmost to nan communicative pinch follow-ups astir nan fallout arsenic different Lizard Squad members said to YouTubers astir nan alleged “drama.” But nan large point nan newsroom kept asking maine was, When would these kids beryllium arrested?

Vinnie Omari was nan first. On New Year’s Eve he was raided by nan South East Regional Organized Crime Unit, which collared him connected suspicion of cyber fraud offenses committed successful 2013 and 2014. It looked for illustration nan ambush was for different alleged offenses involving PayPal fraud, but nan hunt warrant, which later surfaced online, besides referenced nan Christmas DDoS attacks. “They took everything: Xbox One, phones, laptops, machine USBs, etc.,” Omari told newsman William Turton from nan Daily Dot. He was later cleared of immoderate involvement.

After Omari’s arrest, different Lizards were taken retired too. On January 16, 2015, constabulary announced that they had arrested an 18-year-old successful Southport, adjacent Liverpool. They didn’t springiness a name, but reporters astatine nan Daily Mail identified him: “The ‘quiet’ teenager, named locally arsenic Jordan Lee-Bevan, was arrested during a ambush astatine his semi-detached location successful Southport, Merseyside, today, pinch officers seizing computers arsenic he was taken distant successful a constabulary car.”

In 2016 teen Zachary Buchta from Maryland was besides arrested for his domiciled successful Lizard Squad and different group called PoodleCorp. As a boy he had been warned successful 2014 astir his criminal way by constabulary who had caught him carrying retired insignificant cybercrime activity. But he was undeterred and moreover changed his Twitter floor plan astatine 1 shape to @fbiarelosers to taunt nan cops.