Teenager Arrested for Leading Cyber Piracy Group

Brussels, Reuters – Spanish police arrested a 16-year-old suspected of being the main operator of a group of cybercriminals known as “KillSec,” as part of a broad European investigation into approximately 1,000 cyberattacks aimed at extorting victims over two years.

Spanish police said in a statement that the arrested teenager, detained in Alicante, is a Romanian national. A spokesperson for European law enforcement agency Europol said he is suspected of leading the KillSec group.

The spokesperson added that police arrested two other individuals in their twenties, one in the United Kingdom and the other in Romania. She noted that Puerto Rico had requested the extradition of the man arrested in the UK.

A fourth person, an 18-year-old developer, was identified in August. He was a minor when some of the crimes were committed, but he has not yet been arrested.

The group threatened organizations with publishing their data unless ransoms were paid. The statement said the group had obtained large ransom sums.