The operation was dubbed “Operation Cookie Monster”. (Representative)
The Hague:
Europol said on Wednesday that international police have shut down one of the “world’s biggest” online marketplaces dealing with millions of stolen identity and account details.
The global sweep targeting the Genesis market resulted in 119 arrests, involving 17 countries and was led by the FBI and Dutch police, the European Union’s policing agency said.
The operation was dubbed “Operation Cookie Monster”.
“An unprecedented law enforcement operation involving 17 countries has resulted in the takedown of Genesis Markets, one of the most dangerous marketplaces selling stolen account credentials to hackers worldwide,” Europol said.
“The identities of more than two million people are listed for sale when the Genesis market closes,” the Hague-based agency said.
Actions against offenders took place in countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, the United States and more than 10 countries in Europe.
Edwardes Sileris, head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, who assisted in the operation, said, “Through the combined efforts of all law enforcement authorities involved, we have severely disrupted the criminal cyber ecosystem by removing one of its key enablers.” Have given.”
The European Union’s judicial agency, Eurojust, which is also based in The Hague, said it was a “multi-country effort dubbed Operation Cookie Monster”.
“Origin Markets customers were located all over the world and were actively purchasing stolen packages of victim data until this removal occurred,” it said.
‘invitation only’
Britain’s National Crime Agency said 24 people had been arrested in the UK. Another 17 people were arrested in the Netherlands.
Europol said Genesis Markets offered “bots” for sale that infected victims’ devices with malware or other means.
“Upon procuring such bot, criminals will have access to all the data harvested by it such as fingerprints, cookies, saved logins and autofill form data,” it said.
The information was collected in real time so that buyers can be informed about any change of password.
The agency said that unlike so-called “dark web” services, Genesis was available on the open web, “though obscured from law enforcement behind invitation only”.
“Its accessibility and affordable prices greatly lower the barrier to entry for buyers, making it a popular resource among hackers.”
Genesis Markets shut down following multiple cyberattacks linked to Europol.
In April 2022 it said that international investigators had shut down “RedForums”, a massive online forum that sold access to hacked databases stolen from US corporations.
In 2021 it announced plans to disrupt the “world’s most dangerous” cybercrime malware tool used to break into computer systems, called EMOTET.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)