The FBI obtained particulars on probably tens of hundreds of hackers in its takedown of Genesis Market, a web site standard within the cybercriminal world for promoting entry to consumer accounts.
In a Wednesday briefing, senior FBI and Justice Division officers revealed that legislation enforcement recognized and copied the backend servers for Genesis Market’s primary web site. These servers comprise stolen passwords and session cookies from victims, together with information on clients of the notorious hacking web site.
A US official says the server copies embrace details about roughly 59,000 particular person consumer accounts, akin to usernames, passwords, e-mail accounts, and safe messenger accounts, along with a historical past of consumer exercise.
The FBI and its companions have already made 119 arrests, together with 24 within the UK, in reference to the location’s shutdown. Nevertheless, the information uncovered within the server seizures might assist legislation enforcement nab much more suspects.
The Justice Department confirms that some of the arrested suspects include US residents, but it couldn’t provide an exact number. US officials also declined to say if it had arrested any leaders of Genesis Market. However, the Treasury Department noted that the hacking site “is believed to be located in Russia,” a country that has long refused to extradite criminal suspects to the US.
So it’s likely the main operators of Genesis Market escaped arrest and will try to revive their activities. The FBI has shut down the main domain for the marketplace. However, the dark web onion web site for Genesis stays up.
For now, US officers would solely say they’re targeted on nabbing leaders of the location and making use of strain on the cybercriminal world. The takedown comes weeks after legislation enforcement shut down one other infamous hacking web site, BreachForums. In doing so, the FBI signaled it had obtained a backend database for BreachForums that additionally doubtless incorporates data on quite a few hackers.
“Every takedown is one more blow to the cybercrime ecosystem,” US Deputy Legal professional Common Lisa Monaco stated in as we speak’s announcement.
