The culprit behind the M&S cyber attack is still a matter of investigation but speculation has pointed to a group called Scattered Spider.
Also called UNC3944, Octo Tempest or Muddled Libra, Scattered Spider is a hacking group comprised of hackers – some thought to be as young as 16. Members are said to frequent hacker forums, Telegram channels and Discord servers and are believed to be linked to the “Com”, a loosely affiliated community known for cyber and real-world criminal activity. According to Graeme Stewart, the head of public sector at security company Check Point, “Scattered Spider is one of the most dangerous and active hacking groups we are monitoring. “Since they first appeared in 2022, they have been linked to more than 100 targeted attacks across industries such as telecoms, finance, retail and gaming.” Members have been suspected of a hack on Caesars casinos – which cost the group $15m (£11.2m) to restore its network.
Read more…
Source: Yahoo News
Sign up for our Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox.
Related:
- German police add Black Basta boss to EU most-wanted list
January 16, 2026
German cops have added Russian national Oleg Evgenievich Nefekov to their list of most-wanted criminals for his services to ransomware. Nefekov, 35, is accused of spearheading the Black Basta ransomware operation, which suffered a similar fate as Conti last year – ceasing activity after a major internal leak. His name and face also now appear ...
- Cisco has finally patched a maximum-level security issue
January 16, 2026
A maximum-severity vulnerability in certain Cisco products has finally been addressed after allegedly being exploited by Chinese hackers for several weeks. In mid-December 2025, the networking giant disclosed a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in AsyncOS that affects Secure Email Gateway (SEG) and Secure Email and Web Manager (SEWM) appliances. It tracked the flaw as CVE-2025-20393 ...
- DeadLock Ransomware: Smart Contracts for Malicious Purposes
January 15, 2026
DeadLock is a ransomware family discovered in July 2025. It is notable for not being associated with any known affiliate programs and for lacking a Data Leak Site (DLS). This, combined with the limited number of reported victims, has resulted in low exposure for the group. However, Group-IB specialists have discovered an interesting use of ...
- Microsoft disrupts global cybercrime subscription service responsible for millions in fraud losses
January 14, 2026
Today, Microsoft is announcing a coordinated legal action in the United States and, for the first time, the United Kingdom to disrupt RedVDS, a global cybercrime subscription service fueling millions in fraud losses. These efforts are part of a broader joint operation with international law enforcement, including German authorities and Europol, which has allowed Microsoft and ...
- Phishing scammers are posting fake “account restricted” comments on LinkedIn
January 14, 2026
Recently, fake LinkedIn profiles have started posting comment replies claiming that a user has “engaged in activities that are not in compliance” with LinkedIn’s policies and that their account has been “temporarily restricted” until they submit an appeal through a specified link in the comment. The accounts posting the comments all try to look like official ...
- Online shoppers at risk as Magecart skimming hits major payment networks
January 14, 2026
Researchers have been tracking a Magecart campaign that targets several major payment providers, including American Express, Diners Club, Discover, and Mastercard. Magecart is an umbrella term for criminal groups that specialize in stealing payment data from online checkout pages using malicious JavaScript, a technique known as web skimming. In the early days, Magecart started as a ...