Violence-as-a-Service: Brickings, Firebombings & Shootings for Hire
Summary: A 21-year-old New Jersey man, Patrick McGovern-Allen, was arrested on Aug. 12 on an FBI warrant and charged with stalking for his alleged role in a group that hired out physical attacks on rivals of cybercriminals. Prosecutors say he fired at least eight rounds into a West Chester, Pa. home around 2 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2022, and took part in a Dec. 18, 2021 Molotov cocktail firebombing of an Abington Township, Pa. residence, with both attacks recorded as proof and posted to online message boards.
Why it matters: The victims, identified only as K.M. and A.R., had already been swatted, and the attacks were carried out for hire in Telegram channels where brickings and tire-slashing were advertised for $3,000 or more on video proof - a market that began inside SIM swapping crews and, as swatting did before it, may not stay there.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Cybercrime & Law Enforcement
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