Based on an FBI announcement published on the platform’s website this Tuesday, the FBI has taken control of a well-known cybercrime community that has been charged with encouraging widespread identity theft.
In accordance with a judicial order from the District Court of the US for Wisconsin, the bureau acquired the popular sites of the Genesis Market, a closed and invitation-only crime platform that sells login details looted from tens to thousands of desktops based on a seizure warning seen by a prominent source. According to the seizure announcement, the FBI called the arrest “Operation Cookie Monster”, a pun on the organization’s selling of ‘cookies’ or information about online browsers.
Genesis Market, which has been operating for almost five years, has been crucial in allowing hackers access to compromised systems so they can commit various types of fraudulent activities, such as malware assault and identity theft.
FBI Seizes Crime Forum Operating For 5 Years
Based on the notice issued by the FBI, the confiscation appears to be a part of a larger law enforcement investigation targeted at the Genesis Market, which displays the emblems of various European police agencies, from the UK to Germany.
As per cybersecurity analysts, the criminal platform, which has marketed login information for individual bank accounts, was born out of studies conducted by hackers on anti-fraud technology used by thousands of financial institutions and payment networks. Genesis Market furthermore offers “digital fingerprints”, a collection of information gathered from computer systems used to identify specific individuals online.
The Genesis Market was the target of a law enforcement investigation shortly after the FBI raided BreachForums, another well-known criminal site that had advertised data obtained in a breach that affected Congress members as well as thousands of others. A New Yorker in his early 20s who is the suspected creator of the site was detained by the FBI.
