Categories: Technology

Swiss police involved in “Operation Cookie Monster” – what internet users need to know

In an international action, researchers paralyzed the Darknet platform “Genesis Market”. A police website can now be used to find out whether you are one of the victims of the sophisticated criminals.
Daniel Schurter

Europol writes about an unprecedented action involving investigators from 17 countries: As part of “Operation Cookie Monster”, the dangerous Darknet platform Genesis Market was paralyzed on Tuesday.

Via a website of the Dutch judiciary, users can check whether their data has also been offered for sale.

What happened?

On Tuesday, a banner on the dark website “Genesis Market” said that “all domains” had been seized by the FBI from the US Federal Police.

At the same time, worldwide police actions were taken against the users of the platform. This led to 119 arrests and 208 house searches.

Law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain and the US were involved in the action.

According to Europol, the Federal Police (Fedpol) and the Cantonal Police of Zurich were involved in this country.

What made Genesis Market so dangerous?

According to Europol, it was one of the most dangerous criminal marketplaces used by cybercriminals to trade hacked digital identities.

So-called “bots” were sold on the Darknet platform: advanced malicious software (malware) spied on the computers of unsuspecting victims and automatically sent all data of interest to the criminals.

Purchasing a bot gave criminals access to all collected data from victims, such as digital fingerprints, cookies, saved logins for online services and auto-completed data for web forms. Information was collected in real time – and buyers were notified of any change of passwords etc.

The price per bot ranged from 70 cents to several hundred dollars, depending on the amount and type of data stolen. The malware enabled criminals to log into other people’s banking and shopping accounts unnoticed. To do this, buyers received a modified browser that imitated their victim’s browser.

“This allowed the criminals to access their victim’s account without activating the security measures of the platform on which the account resided.”

The unknown operators of Genesis Market have also set up a normal website. This means that, unlike other criminal marketplaces, the associated offers were accessible on the open internet.

This is how victims find out that they have been affected

The Dutch police have an online portal where you can check whether your data has been compromised and offered for sale.

The website asks you to enter your email address and you will be notified by email if you are actually a victim.

According to Europol, the following steps should be taken in the event of theft of the digital identity:

  • Run an antivirus first. In most cases, the malware is detected and removed. “Only then should you change all your passwords – not before, if you don’t want cybercriminals to get their hands on them.”
  • Than inform the companies involved and warn them about identity theft. So please contact your own bank, insurance companies and other important third parties.
Organized crime infiltrates European ports
According to a report by Europol, criminal organizations are increasingly infiltrating Europe’s major ports. Employees of ports or companies are bribed, but members of gangs are also smuggled in, according to the report that Europol will publish in The Hague on Wednesday. Security experts had analyzed the risks in the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Bremerhaven.

Organized crime mainly uses container transport to smuggle cocaine into the European Union. According to the experts’ analysis, the gangs are increasingly targeting the digital security codes for containers. With these codes, they could easily open containers and retrieve the previously hidden drugs.

According to the authority, around 90 million containers arrive at EU seaports every year. But only a fraction can be checked for illegal goods. In the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp alone, customs officers seized a total of about 200 tons of cocaine last year.

(sda)

Sources

  • europol.europa.eu: Removal from the infamous hacker marketplace that sells your identity to criminals
  • police.nl: Check your hack
  • reuters.com: ‘Operation Cookie Monster’: international police action conquers dark web market
  • BBC.com: Genesis Market: popular cybercrime website shut down by the police

(dsc)

Daniel Schurter

Source: Watson

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