A sprawling, English-speaking cybercrime ecosystem, largely comprised of teenagers and young adults, is behind a surge in online offences ranging from the recent hack of Pornhub users to crippling attacks on major British retailers.
The Fluid and Growing Threat of 'The Com'
Known as 'The Com' (short for community), this loose affiliation defies traditional criminal categorisation. Its members are predominantly male, native English speakers, typically aged between 16 and 25, though participants can be as young as 11. Their activities form a disturbing spectrum: from ransomware attacks and data theft to swatting, bomb threats against schools, and the cruel sextortion of vulnerable children.
The network's latest high-profile breach targeted premium users of the adult site Pornhub. A group called ShinyHunters, emerging from The Com's vast networks, stole user search histories and viewing habits. This same criminal ecosystem has spawned Scattered Spider, a collective linked to cyber-attacks on British retail giants including Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, and Harrods.
Aiden Sinnott, principal threat researcher at cybersecurity firm Sophos, describes The Com as operating like a sinister pipeline. "Older members of The Com contact kids and try to get them to commit increasingly sophisticated acts of criminality," he explains, highlighting a grooming process that escalates to the level of sophisticated hacks.
Three Pillars of Criminal Activity
Experts and law enforcement break The Com's operations into three main, overlapping subsets.
The first is Hacker Com, which includes groups like ShinyHunters, Scattered Spider, and Lapsus$. Their crimes involve crippling corporate IT systems, stealing sensitive data, and executing ransomware attacks where cryptocurrency is demanded for its return.
The second subset is IRL (In Real Life) Com, linked to groups such as Bricksquad. This wing specialises in 'swatting'—making hoax calls to deploy armed police—issuing bomb threats to schools, and even advertising violence-as-a-service contracts online.
The most harrowing branch is Extortion Com, which systematically targets vulnerable children. A notorious group within this sphere, known as 764, coerces victims aged 10-17 into live-streaming acts of self-harm or sexual exploitation. The footage is then used for continued blackmail and control. The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) states these networks often manipulate children into harming themselves, siblings, or pets.
Law Enforcement Response and Soaring UK Cases
The Com is a known and escalating threat to transatlantic law enforcement. In July, the FBI issued a public warning, describing it as an international online ecosystem where many members are minors.
In the UK, the situation is particularly acute. The NCA reports that incidents linked to Com networks have increased six-fold between 2022 and 2024. The agency characterises members as "usually young men who are motivated by status, power, control, misogyny, sexual gratification, or an obsession with extreme or violent material".
This year has seen UK prosecutions. Cameron Finnigan, 19, from Horsham, West Sussex, was jailed for nine years for terrorism offences and encouraging suicide online; counter-terror police linked his activities to the extremist 764 group. In the US, 20-year-old Noah Urban of Scattered Spider received a 10-year sentence for his role in a cybercrime spree.
With over 250 active FBI investigations into the Extortion Com branch alone, and communication flourishing on platforms like Discord and Telegram, The Com represents a fluid and rapidly evolving challenge. As Sinnott concludes, "It's not three set pillars. There is some movement between the groups," underscoring the adaptable and persistent nature of this digital-age threat.
