Scattered Spider co-conspirator pleads guilty

Another member of the notorious Scattered Spider gang of cyber criminals has pleaded guilty in a US court, and will be sentenced later this year.

Tyler Buchanan pleaded guilty in a Florida court to conspiring with others to hack into companies’ computer systems with the intent of stealing at least $8 million in virtual currency. He faces up to

Other members of the gang have already been arrested: In 2024, a British national was picked up in Spain while, in the same year, another was charged in Florida.

However, there are members of the Scattered Spider group still active: last year it branched out and attacked a number of other businesses, including Marks and Spencer, Co-op and Harrods – although there were other arrests following these attacks.

The group works by sending SMS phishing attacks to the mobile phones of employees of its targets. The messages purport to come from suppliers to those companies but contain links to websites set up by group members, allowing them to steal information from the employees.

However, last year the cyber criminals revealed a new line of attack — pretending to be fellow employees of the victims, tricking help desks to reveal more personal information.

Despite the arrests, CISOs are being advised to be on alert against such attacks and take appropriate measures to guard against them.