Police seize cybercrime bazaar Genesis Market where stolen passwords were sold
The FBI and international law enforcement agencies have seized Genesis Market, a global cybercrime bazaar where thieves buy and sell stolen passwords and data for as little as $1.
The takedown, dubbed Operation Cookie Monster, targeted the notorious marketplace where clients could buy data to impersonate legitimate users on multiple websites, including Amazon, Fidelity, PayPal, Twitter, Dropbox and other major platforms.
The stolen data came in the form of bots, which included information from users’ cookies — the files that track usernames and passwords on a computer.
Now instead of a sprawling market website filled with millions of stolen passwords for them to feast on, thieves will be made aware that there are no more cookies for them as police replaced the site with a massive warning: “This website has been seized.”
Along with putting an end to the website, police around the globe conducted about 120 arrests in connection to Genesis Market, as well as 208 property searches and 97 other “preventative” measures.
The message on the site, which features the logos of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies from around the world, includes links for people to find out if their data had been put up on the marketplace.
It also features an invitation for anyone who knows more about Genesis Market and its administrators to contact the FBI.
Officials said that at the time of the takedown yesterday, the marketplace contained more than 1.5 million bots with a total of more than 2 million stolen identities.
Rob Jones, Britain’s National Crime Agency director general of theft leadership, touted the international effort to take down Genesis Market, which included arrests in the UK.
“Behind every cyber criminal or fraudster is the technical infrastructure that provides them with the tools to execute their attacks and the means to benefit financially from their offending,” Jones said in a statement.
“Genesis Market was a prime example of such a service and was one of the most significant platforms on the criminal market. Its removal will be a huge blow to criminals across the globe.”
The Dutch police, who helped in the effort to take down the illegal cyber-bazaar, invite anyone to visit their website to check to see if they were a victim of Genesis Marketplace.