Six teens in the UK arrested in relation to Lizard Squad attacks

Lizard Squad

Police in the UK have arrested six teenagers for allegedly employing the 'Lizard Stresser' against at least three major corporate websites. As the name implies, the service, which uses a network of infected computers to launch DDoS attacks, was created by the notorious collective that calls itself the Lizard Squad.

Bloomberg reports that the six, all males aged 15 to 18, were not actually members of Lizard Squad, but allegedly made use of the service to cause grief. The UK's National Crime Agency did not say which companies were targeted by the attacks, which occurred between August 24 and 27, nor how successful they were, but according to Bloomberg an online database indicates that the lads directed their efforts toward Amazon, Sony, and Microsoft.

“By paying a comparatively small fee, tools like Lizard Stresser can cripple businesses financially and deprive people of access to important information and public services," Tony Adams, head of investigations at the NCA’s cybercrime unit, told the publication.

Lizard Squad came to prominence last year following a series of attacks against sites and services including League of Legends, Battle.net, and Sony Online Entertainment. One of its members, 17-year-old Julius Kivimaki, was arrested last for his role in similar attacks, and is accused of using a bomb threat to divert a plane carrying John Smedley, then CEO of Sony Online Entertainment. Smedley's less-than-happy reaction to news that Kivimaki would not face jail time for his crimes sparked a new round of DDoS attacks targeting SOE's successor company, Daybreak Game Company.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.