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🇸🇬 Singapore /Crime & Justice

Australian police charge two men in widespread open-source software hacking

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Australian police charged two men linked to the TeamPCP hacking collective.
  • The syndicate allegedly inserted malicious code into open-source software, compromising over 1,000 organizations globally.
  • The investigation involved collaboration with the FBI, targeting software supply-chain attacks.

Australian police have announced charges against two men accused of involvement in a sophisticated cybercrime syndicate known as TeamPCP. The group allegedly compromised thousands of businesses worldwide by inserting malicious code into widely used open-source software tools.

We are proud to work with the Australian Federal Police and the Western Australia Police Force to impose cost on criminal actors and combat the growing threat of software supply-chain attacks.

— Brett LeathermanFBI Cyber Division Assistant Director, commenting on the joint investigation

The two Australian men face a total of 14 charges related to their alleged roles within TeamPCP. According to the Australian Federal Police, the syndicate's activities included compromising businesses, some of which were subsequently subjected to extortion. An FBI advisory in July had previously highlighted these risks.

While police did not publicly name the suspects, Australian media identified them as 21-year-old Ruben Ian Thomson and 23-year-old Louis Michael Gaebler. The malicious code deployed by the group is believed to have compromised more than 1,000 organizations, leading to the theft of over 500,000 credentials and more than 300 gigabytes of data.

one of the most impactful threat actors of 2026

— Austin LarsenPrincipal threat analyst with Google Threat Intelligence Group, describing TeamPCP

This investigation, a joint effort between Australian Federal Police and the FBI, began in April following intelligence from cybersecurity firms. FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Brett Leatherman praised the collaboration, stating it aimed to impose costs on criminal actors and combat the growing threat of software supply-chain attacks. Experts have described TeamPCP as a highly impactful threat actor, characterized by skilled individuals operating with a shared focus.

peer community of individually skilled actors with one clear center of gravity

— Austin LarsenPrincipal threat analyst with Google Threat Intelligence Group, describing TeamPCP's structure
About this summary

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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