Even if the takedown of the “most prolific initial access broker” is temporary, the impact of improved global threat sharing deals a massive blow to cybercriminals.
Microsoft, Fortra go after Cobalt Strike-abusing gangs theregister.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theregister.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By taking legal action, the companies will effectively sever connections to "cracked" copies of Cobalt Strike used in more than 68 ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations.
Genesis Market has been taken down in an operation involving judicial and law enforcement authorities in the United States, nine European Union countries, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Genesis Market was a criminal marketplace accessible on the dark web and clear web that sold packages of account access credentials – including usernames and passwords for email, bank accounts, and social media. The credentials had been stolen from malware-infected computers around the world and were subsequently used by cybercriminals to commit cyber-enabled fraud. In a coordinated action supported by Eurojust and Europol, the infrastructure and operations of Genesis Market were dismantled and law enforcement in 13 countries conducted more than 100 arrests and more than 200 searches of Genesis Market customers who had purchased stolen access credentials.