Intelligence agencies of the United States and six other countries stopped the activity of the hacker trading platform Genesis Market

The intelligence services of Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the United States and three European countries stopped the work of a large hacker trading platform Genesis Market, reports TechCrunch with reference to the statement of the American department. By data US Department of the Treasury, the site could work from Russia.

During the joint operation “Cookie Monster”, security forces detained 120 people and conducted 200 searches around the world, indicated British NCA. In addition, NCA operatives were able to identify over a hundred users of the platform – their data was transferred to the British police.

“Behind every cybercriminal is a technical infrastructure that provides them with the tools to carry out attacks and ways to profit financially from their crimes. Genesis Market is a prime example of such a service. It was one of the most significant sites on the black market,” said NCA Tech head Rob Jones.

Also today, April 5, the US Treasury imposed sanctions against the Genesis Market. The department believes that the site is “probably located in Russia”, and is virtually present both on the “clearnet” (ordinary Internet space) and on the darknet. With the help of software from the Genesis Market, hackers attacked the devices of American users, large American companies and US government organizations, according to the Ministry of Finance.

“By February 1, 2023, about 460,000 packages were offered for sale on the Genesis Market, each of which represented one compromised victim computer or device,” the agency said.

According to the FBI, with the help of data purchased from the Genesis Market, attackers carried out over 1 million cybercrimes around the world (including high-profile ones). So, hackers who gained access to the infrastructure of the gaming giant Electronic Arts in 2021 reported that they gained access using a ten-dollar bot from the Genesis Market.

“Now we expect a massive outflow of sellers and buyers (illegal software.—“b”) on the sites of competitors. Or, if some of the Genesis Market administrators leave law enforcement, they can simply create a new version of the site, ”said Cyril Noel-Tago, senior researcher at Netacea.

TechCrunch notes that the closure of Genesis Market comes just weeks after the arrest of a 20-year-old New Yorker suspected of operating the BreachForums hacking portal.

About what cyber attacks worry Russian entrepreneurs – in the material “Kommersant FM” “Competitors are scarier than hackers”.

Grigory Leiba