U.S. Charges Suspected Scattered Spider Member for Infiltrating Sensitive Computer Systems

U.S. authorities charged 19-year-old Peter Stokes (alias “Bouquet”) for his alleged role in Scattered Spider (aka Octo Tempest), a criminal collective that uses social engineering and help-desk MFA bypasses to breach large enterprises, exfiltrate sensitive data (e.g., ~100 GB from a luxury retailer in May 2025) and issue multimillion-dollar ransom demands; investigators cite encrypted chat logs, social-media OPSEC failures, and evidence of multiple intrusions while urging stronger help-desk verification and phishing-resistant MFA.