David Hollingworth

The Everest ransomware gang claimed responsibility for the cyber attack in a 17 October listing on its darknet leak site, and said it was planning to release several tranches of data allegedly stolen during the incident.

Hours after hacking group Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters, which was responsible for breaching the data of more than 5 million Qantas customers, posted its stolen trove to the internet, the Flying Kangaroo responded to the hackers’ actions.

The date of publication was delayed several times, and messages exchanged on the group’s Telegram channel suggested some confusion among the hackers.

Officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit made the arrest overnight in West Sussex, on suspicion of offences under the Computer Misuse Act.

ENISA said it knows the type of ransomware employed, but has not shared any details of the threat actor behind the incident. While there has been some speculation that hackers linked to the Scattered Spider collective may be behind the attack, no actor has yet claimed responsibility.

A cyber attack targeting Collins Aerospace, the maker of boarding and check-in systems used by a raft of major European airports, led to widespread disruptions, flight cancellations, and hundreds of late flights over the weekend.