The operation was named “Operation Cookie Monster”. (representative)
The Hague:
International police have shut down what they called “one of the world’s largest” online marketplaces trading millions of stolen identities and account details, Europol said on Wednesday.
The global action targeting the Genesis market resulted in 119 arrests, involving 17 countries and was led by the FBI and Dutch police, EU police said.
The operation was named “Operation Cookie Monster”.
“An unprecedented law enforcement operation involving 17 countries has resulted in the takedown of Genesis Market, one of the most dangerous marketplaces selling stolen account credentials to hackers around the world,” said Europol.
“Genesis Market put the identities of more than two million people up for sale when it closed,” said the Hague-based agency.
Action against criminals took place in countries such as Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the United States and more than 10 countries in Europe.
“Through the combined efforts of all law enforcement agencies involved, we have seriously disrupted the criminal cyber ecosystem by removing one of the most important factors,” said Edvardas Sileris, head of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre, who assisted in the operation.
The EU’s judicial body, Eurojust, which is also based in The Hague, said it was a “multi-country effort called Operation Cookie Monster”.
“Genesis Market customers were located all over the world and were actively purchasing stolen packages containing victim data until this takedown,” it said.
“Invitation Only”
Britain’s National Crime Agency said 24 people have been arrested in Britain. Another 17 people were arrested in the Netherlands.
Europol said the Genesis Market was offering “bots” for sale that had infected victims’ devices through malware or other methods.
“By purchasing such a bot, criminals would gain access to all data collected by it, such as fingerprints, cookies, saved logins and data from auto-fill forms,” it said.
The information was collected in real time so that buyers would be notified of any change of passwords.
Unlike so-called “dark web” services, Genesis was available on the open web “though hidden from law enforcement behind an invitation-only veil,” the agency said.
“Its accessibility and cheap prices have significantly lowered the barrier to entry for buyers, making it a popular resource among hackers.”
The closure of the Genesis market comes after a number of cyber attacks involving Europol.
In April 2022, it said international investigators had shut down “Raidforums,” a massive online forum selling access to hacked databases stolen from US companies.
In 2021, it announced the disruption of 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 DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
