A worldwide collaboration of law enforcement agencies has disrupted a digital marketplace for stolen data that had grown popular due to its simplicity of use, according to a report from the US Justice Department.
Over the previous five years, the marketplace, also known as Genesis, had obtained around 80 million user credentials. On Tuesday, 11 domain names connected to the marketplace were taken under the authority of U.S. law enforcement, who collaborated with organizations from more than a dozen other nations.
A notice stating that the site had been taken over by a federal court in Wisconsin’s Eastern District was presented to anyone attempting to visit at least one of the sites. The notice contained a link to a website that can assist consumers in determining whether their information had been trafficked on the site.
US officials were quoted in a Washington Post article as suggesting that Genesis offered a variety of online services, including real-time updates on stolen data and the tools needed to launch ransomware assaults.
Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement on Wednesday warning cybercriminals who use or run unlawful marketplaces that the Justice Department and its international partners will find them and prosecute them. Genesis is thought to have been situated in Russia and to have used the anonymous dark web to do business.
Some 460,000 stolen information packages, including passwords for email accounts, video streaming sites, and social networking accounts, were listed on the market as of February. In a research published in August, the cybersecurity company Sophos found that Genesis offered customers software that automatically updated their personal data as it changed on their devices, thereby establishing a subscription to the victim’s data.
Since its introduction in March 2018, Genesis Market has allegedly given users access to information taken from more than 1.5 million computers across the globe, including more than 80 million account login passwords.
Senior FBI and Justice Department officials stated that 119 people had been arrested as a consequence of a global operation that involved law enforcement agencies from at least 15 different nations during a news briefing on Wednesday. Notwithstanding the fact that some arrests were made in the country, the officials talked on the condition of anonymity in accordance with the agency’ policies.
The officials also disclosed that the sale of users’ online credentials had generated $8.7 million in cryptocurrency, resulting in overall financial losses estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
