Moscow, 14.03.2019 – Group-IB, an international company that specializes in preventing cyberattacks, has uncovered a malicious code designed to steal customers’ payment data on seven online stores in the UK and the US. The injected code has been identified as a new JavaScript Sniffer (JS Sniffer), dubbed by Group-IB as GMO.
Group-IB Threat Intelligence team first discovered the GMO JS Sniffer on the website of the international sporting goods company FILA UK, which could have led to the theft of payment details of at least 5,600 customers for the past 4 months.
Do your payments have the sniffles?
Most recent breaches similar to this include British Airways and Ticketmaster which were first analyzed by RiskIQ research team, where cybercriminals managed to compromise personal information of thousands of travelers and concert goers with a few of lines of code. British Airways and Ticketmaster websites were infected with JS Sniffers, a type of malicious code injected into a victim’s website designed to steal a consumer’s personal data including payment card details, names, credentials etc.
FILA UK website (fila.co[.]uk) became cybercriminals’ new major target on the UK market . GMO JS Sniffer has also been discovered on 6 other websites of US-based companies. This type of attack is especially dangerous given that it can be applied to almost any e-commerce site around the world. Group-IB made multiple attempts to alert FILA, which was known to be impacted by GMO. Six other websites affected by this JS Sniffer were notified upon discovery as well. Group-IB team has also reached out to local authorities in the UK and the US to conduct outreach.
Group-IB’s Threat Intelligence team first discovered GMO on the FILA UK website. The malicious code was detected in early March 2019. In the course of further research it was revealed that GMO JS Sniffer has presumably been collecting customer payment data since November 2018. According to Alexa.com, the number of fila.co[.]uk unique monthly visitors is estimated at around 140k per month.
According to IRP, UK market research firm, a minimum conversion into purchase for fashion and clothing ecommerce is equal to 1%. Using very conservative estimates, payment and personal details of at least 5,600 customers could have been stolen by cybercriminals – everyone who has purchased items on fila.co.uk since November 2018 has potentially had their details compromised. Typically, after customer data is stolen, it is usually resold on underground cardshops. Another scheme of cashing out involves the use of compromised cards to buy valuable goods, e.g. electronics, for onward sale.
