Officers from the UK’s South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) have arrested a man who they believe was involved in the recent VTech hack, which compromised the personal information of roughly 5 million parents and 200,000 children.
SEROCU has confirmed that a 21-year-old man was arrested this morning in Bracknell, and that a number of electronic items have been seized.
VTech found out about the security breach after the hacker sent tech website Motherboard details of the attack, including the names, email addresses, passwords, and the home addresses of parents, as well as the first names, genders, and birthdays of children.
Although he released proof of his attack to the Motherboard team, the hacker went on to say that he didn’t plan to use, sell, or release any of the information.
Craig Jones, Head of the Cyber Crime Unit at SEROCU, has said that the investigation is still in its early stages.
“There is still much work to be done. We will continue to work closely with our partners to identify those who commit offenses and hold them to account,” said Jones.
“We are pursuing cyber criminals using the latest technology and working with businesses and academia to further develop specialist investigative capabilities to protect and reduce the risk to the public.
“Cyber crime is an issue which has no boundaries and affects people on a local, regional and global level.”