The activities include ransomware attacks, swatting, extortion of minors, the distribution of child sexual abuse material, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, SIM Swapping, cryptocurrency theft and more. Extortion Com “primarily involves the exploitation of children,” the FBI said, adding that members extort minors, typically females, through threats of doxing, swatting and violence if member demands are not met. At an FBI cybersecurity conference in New York last week, several officials at the Justice Department spoke at length about 764, another offshoot of The Com that focuses on the grooming, manipulation and extortion of minors for the production of child sexual abuse material. The agency released three bulletins about the group — which is composed primarily of English-speaking minors but has expanded to include thousands of people who engage in a variety of cybercriminal activity. Several members of Hacker Com have been linked to ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) groups and typically sell their services to other cybercriminal operations for profit. The FBI said it has seen evidence of members using kidnapping, torture, threats of violence toward family members and the use of firearms in attacks on each other or on rivals. “We see it as sort of an accelerationist kind of group, the idea that they want to sow chaos and bring about violence, to bring about the downfall of society,” said Robert Kissane, Special Agent in Charge for the FBI’s NY Joint Terrorism Task Force. An affiliated subgroup — Scattered Spider — has garnered headlines over the last two years for dozens of high profile cyberattacks on prominent companies like MGM Resorts and most recently caused concern this year with consecutive campaigns targeting the retail, insurance and airline industries. “Cryptocurrency theft is the primary motivator for many Com actors, which often leads to internal conflicts and Com members themselves becoming the targets of SIM swaps and other cyber-related crime. The group tried to bring in members through gaming sites and specifically targets people between the ages of 11 and 25 years old. The FBI has tracked members who sell government email accounts, develop malware and use an array of sophisticated tools to launch attacks. Members brag about their attacks and profit — at times stealing cryptocurrency from each other. The FBI released a warning on Wednesday about a loosely-organized cybercriminal organization known as The Com that is launching cyberattacks to steal money and gain access to sensitive information. The bulletin notes that the group is familiar with the U.K. and U.S. criminal justice systems and specifically recruits minors in the hopes of avoiding longer sentences or stiffer penalties for their crimes. “Open-source information indicates Hacker Com groups are responsible for high-profile attacks and intrusions and have affiliations with ransomware organizations,” the FBI said.
This Cyber News was published on therecord.media. Publication date: Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:25:27 +0000