Teen Released on Bail in Vegas Casino Hacking Case, Faces Potential Adult Trial
LAS VEGAS – A teenager suspected of possessing $1.8 million in Bitcoin obtained from a cyberattack targeting las Vegas casinos has been released into his parents’ custody,but could face trial as an adult and potential prison time,according to the Clark County District Attorney’s office. The case centers around intrusions attributed to the Scattered Spider hacking group,which utilized BlackCat ransomware – a programme written in the Rust programming language – to compromise casino networks.
The teen, who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged attacks, was found to be secretly holding the cryptocurrency. Prosecutors are seeking to try him as an adult, a move that would allow for harsher sentencing than juvenile court would permit.
A family court judge has currently sided with the defense, releasing the youth to his parents’ care under strict conditions. He is prohibited from leaving Clark County, must reside at his parents’ registered address, and his internet and cell phone access is limited to educational purposes.
Currently, the teen faces charges of extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion. Though, the District Attorney’s office is pursuing the possibility of more severe charges if granted the ability to try him as an adult.
The attacks carried out by Scattered Spider typically involve the theft of confidential victim data, followed by threats to publicly release the facts and launch distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against the victim’s network. The $1.8 million in Bitcoin remains unrecovered.
