British Hacker Pledges Guilt for Multi-Million Dollar Cyber Crime Scheme

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Tyler Buchanan Admits to Multi-Year Hacking Campaign Resulting in $8 Million Losses

A British national, Tyler Robert Buchanan, has pleaded guilty to participating in a multi-year hacking campaign that targeted organizations in the United States, resulting in estimated losses of at least $8 million.

The Hacking Campaign

Buchanan was associated with the hacking group Scattered Spider.
The illicit activities took place between September 2021 and April 2023.
Buchanan used compromised employee login credentials and SMS phishing tactics to infiltrate corporate networks.
Once inside these networks, Buchanan extracted sensitive data, including customer information and proprietary materials.
In some instances, Buchanan monetized access to these systems.

According to the Department of Justice, the total losses attributed to Buchanan’s activities exceed $8 million, encompassing stolen cryptocurrency and revenue derived from unauthorized access.

Targets of the Hacking Campaign

The hacking campaign specifically targeted organizations reliant on cloud services and internal tools for their daily operations.
Companies faced additional costs following the breaches, including incident response, legal action, and reputational harm.
Recent high-profile examples include the Under Armour data breach, the Oracle lawsuit over the alleged cloud breach affecting millions, and the 2025 M&S cyber attack.

Buchanan’s arrest and extradition from Spain to the United States were facilitated due to the location of affected companies and infrastructure.

Possible Sentence and Associates

Buchanan is scheduled to appear in court on August 21, 2026.
He faces a maximum possible sentence of 22 years in federal prison.
Several of his associates linked to Scattered Spider have already received sentences or are currently facing charges.
Key figures associated with Scattered Spider include Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, Joel Martin Evans, and Noah Michael Urban, who is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence under his aliases “Sosa” and “Elijah.”