The FBI has confirmed the arrest of "one of the alleged leaders" of cybercrime and hacking group ShinyHunters – the group that claimed responsibility for a Rockstar Games hack earlier this year.
As reported by Reuters, earlier this week, Dutch police announced that they arrested a 24-year-old man from Amsterdam on September 15 who's suspected of being part of the group. In a statement, the FBI's cyber division assistant director, Brett Leatherman, refers to the man as "one of the alleged leaders of ShinyHunters," saying: "Since last year, this cybercriminal and his co-conspirators have allegedly breached more than 140 organizations and taken at least $70 million in extortion payments."
One of those organizations is allegedly GTA 6 maker Rockstar Games – ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for a hack which took place in April this year. At that point, Rockstar stated: "We can confirm that a limited amount of non-material company information was accessed in connection with a third-party data breach. This incident has no impact on our organization or our players."
This breach shouldn't be confused with the September 2022 GTA 6 leak, nor the Cyberleek leaks that emerged last month. However, it did seemingly reveal alleged financial records, including the apparent weekly revenue earned by GTA Online.
More recently, ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen information from the FBI (thanks, BBC), allegedly including data on most agents at the organization, Reuters reported last week – notably after the arrest of the 24-year-old.
Leatherman also shares a message for anyone involved with ShinyHunters, encouraging them to come forward. "You've heard about the arrest of your colleague. We're confident you've seen or heard things in recent days that the public has not. Other groups believed anonymity, or their friends, would protect them, and they were wrong," he states.
"Arrests have a way of changing who is willing to talk, and seized infrastructure has a way of showing us who's left. The longer you stay in this, the more we learn about you. You know how to find us, and we know how to find you. I suggest you reach out first while the choice is still yours."
In a statement seen by Reuters, however, ShinyHunters claims that the man arrested has "no association" with the hacking group, and allegedly criticizes the competence of the Dutch police force.
