UK Man Arrested in Investigation of PSN and Xbox Live Holiday DDoS

roseofbattle

News Room Contributor
Apr 18, 2011
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UK Man Arrested in Investigation of PSN and Xbox Live Holiday DDoS

The UK police organized crime unit is investigating swatting and computer hacking offenses but cannot comment on whether the person arrested is a part of Lizard Squad.

An 18-year-old man was arrested this morning in Southport, England today on suspicion of unauthorized access to computer material and knowingly providing false information to law enforcement, the South East Regional Organized Crime Unit stated. SEROCU, with the support of the National Cybercrime Unit, is working with the FBI in an investigation of the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live over the holidays. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139217-PSN-And-Xbox-Live-Down-For-Christmas]

The To do this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/playstation%20network?os=playstation+network], it had to infect legitimate websites and distribute a program on thousands of ordinary computers to attack servers, bringing them to a halt.

SEROCU cannot comment on the investigation and whether the arrested 18-year-old man is associated with Lizard Squad. SEROCU has seized "a number of electronic and digital devices" for examination.

Craig Jones, SEROCU's head of the cyber crime unit, is optimistic about what this investigation in coordination with the FBI means. "This investigation is a good example of joint law enforcement cooperation in relation to a type of criminality that is not restricted by any geographical boundaries," Jones said.

The FBI is investigating swatting [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/tag/view/swatting], in which people involve law enforcement in hoax calls. Jones said the swatting incidents in SEROCU and the FBI's investigation have found the hoax calls were made through Skype. SEROCU is developing specialist investigative capabilities to reduce risk to the public.

"Cyber crime is an issue which has no boundaries and affects people on a local, regional, and global level," Jones said.

DCC Peter Goodman, national policing lead for cyber security at the Association of Police Officers, said this arrest is significant on the national and international stage. "The cyber crime investigative capability I am overseeing across the Regional Organised Crime Units increasingly allows policing to undertake such complex investigations as a networked specialist resource, and in collaboration with international law enforcement partners, as in this case the FBI. This arrest demonstrates that we will pursue those who commit crime with the false perception they are protected within their own homes or hiding behind anonymous online personas."

Law enforcement has been slow to adapt to cyber crimes, but this arrest shows agencies are aware of harmful activity online and are taking steps to combat it.


Source: BBC [http://www.serocu.org.uk/31/section.aspx/21/man_arrested_swatting_and_denial_of_service_offences]


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small

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Aug 5, 2014
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swatting isnt just a dick thing to do and its not even the inconvenience or money wasted, the potential to get someone killed either with the person being swatting or a swat team following one of these when they should be at an actual crime is significant.

i hope they make an example of the little prick and limit his access to the net permamently
 

WarpedLord

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Mar 11, 2009
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small said:
swatting isnt just a dick thing to do and its not even the inconvenience or money wasted, the potential to get someone killed either with the person being swatting or a swat team following one of these when they should be at an actual crime is significant.

i hope they make an example of the little prick and limit his access to the net permamently
Agreed. It's only a matter of time before one of these "pranks" turns fatal.
 

Sanunes

Senior Member
Mar 18, 2011
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WarpedLord said:
small said:
swatting isnt just a dick thing to do and its not even the inconvenience or money wasted, the potential to get someone killed either with the person being swatting or a swat team following one of these when they should be at an actual crime is significant.

i hope they make an example of the little prick and limit his access to the net permamently
Agreed. It's only a matter of time before one of these "pranks" turns fatal.
I think it has already happened in Dayton Ohio. When a person called 911 about a guy carrying a BB gun inside of Walmart, the police shot and killed the man.
 

ryukage_sama

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Mar 12, 2009
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That wasn't a prank call. Somebody saw a (black) man carrying what looked like an assault rifle, and called 911 claiming that he was walking around pointing it at people. It was a BB gun, but the police wound up shooting and killing him. Nothing really points to a prank call, just a tragic misunderstanding followed by a failure to communicate. The specifics of whether he was pointing it at people and how long it took before the police opened fire are being contested.
 

WarpedLord

New member
Mar 11, 2009
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Sanunes said:
WarpedLord said:
small said:
swatting isnt just a dick thing to do and its not even the inconvenience or money wasted, the potential to get someone killed either with the person being swatting or a swat team following one of these when they should be at an actual crime is significant.

i hope they make an example of the little prick and limit his access to the net permamently
Agreed. It's only a matter of time before one of these "pranks" turns fatal.
I think it has already happened in Dayton Ohio. When a person called 911 about a guy carrying a BB gun inside of Walmart, the police shot and killed the man.
Ugh. That's just sad.

On another note... anyone want to take bets that this renewed focus on preventing widescale DDOS attacks on the part of the White House and FBI probably means someone at the White House got a PS4/Xbox One for Christmas and couldn't use it? :)
 

NuclearKangaroo

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Feb 7, 2014
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why did it take so long? if i remember correctly some people in 4chan or 8chan already doxxed some of them
 

wooty

Vi Britannia
Aug 1, 2009
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Funny thing is, I live in Southport and this guy lives LITERALLY around the corner from my house!!

Wish I'd known that on Christmas Day, I would of gone round and knocked him out.
 

Strazdas

Robots will replace your job
May 28, 2011
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Good. Swatters should be tracked down and fined appropriately.

NuclearKangaroo said:
why did it take so long? if i remember correctly some people in 4chan or 8chan already doxxed some of them
i remmeber last time 4chan doxxed "criminals". it was those bombers couple years ago. turns out 4chan was completely off the mark and doxxed innocent people.