One of the largest online platforms for selling stolen credentials has been dismantled following a comprehensive operation involving numerous law enforcement agencies.
Genesis Market, which hosted approximately 80 million credentials and digital fingerprints from over two million victims, was taken offline as part of a coordinated effort named Operation Cookie Monster, which included 17 countries.
Led by the FBI and the Dutch National Police, the operation culminated in 120 arrests, over 200 searches, and nearly 100 preventative actions across the globe.
Genesis Market specialized in trading digital identities, offering ‘bots’ that contained information plundered from infected victim devices. These bots granted criminals access to a wealth of data associated with individual identities, including cookies, saved logins, and autofill form data.
Prices for these bots varied significantly, starting as low as $0.70 and reaching several hundred dollars for those containing sensitive financial information, which could lead to access to online banking accounts.
The marketplace provided users with a custom browser designed to replicate that of the victim, enabling criminals to impersonate their targets and access accounts as though they were logging in from the victim’s usual location and operating system.
Rob Jones from the UK’s National Crime Agency commented: “Behind every cyber criminal or fraudster is the technical infrastructure that provides them with the tools to execute their attacks and profit from their offenses. Genesis Market was a prime example of such a service and represented one of the most significant platforms in the criminal market. Its closure will deliver a major setback to criminals worldwide.”