The RedLine malware attacks browsers based on the Chromium engine — Chrome, Edge, Yandex.Browser and Opera, as well as on the basis of the Gecko engine - Mozilla Firefox and Netscape. RedLine steals saved passwords, bank card data, information about cryptocurrency wallets, cookies, system information, and other information from browsers.
Further, experiments showed that the program collects any sensitive information stored in browsers, and in addition allows you to control the computers of victims via the SOAP remote access protocol and hypothetically create botnets from them. The problem affects not only companies but also ordinary users.
The RedLine program appeared on the Russian darknet in February 2020. The announcement of its sale was posted by a Russian-speaking user with the nickname REDGlade.
The AhnLab ASEC report calls RedLine a serious cyber threat. ASEC discovered the program in 2021 when they were investigating the hacking of the network of an unnamed company. It turned out that access was carried out through a VPN service from an employee's computer infected with RedLine.
Attackers sell malware on the darknet and telegram for an average of $150-200. RedLine is distributed using phishing mailings with attached files in the format .doc, .xls, .rar, .exe. It is also uploaded to domains that disguise themselves as an online casino or, for example, the website of the Krupskaya Confectionery Factory.
It is worth noting that in December 2021, RedLine became the most popular program used in cyber attacks. Since the beginning of the month, more than 22 thousand attacks have been carried out with the help of RedLine.
Experts urged not to store credentials in browsers, suggesting instead to use a password manager and enable two-factor authentication wherever possible.
The hacker group Clop, allegedly linked to Russia, put up for sale data stolen from the British police. This statement was made on Sunday by the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
According to the publication, information stolen by hackers can be bought on the darknet. The Mail on Sunday says that information from the Police national computer system (PNC), where information about 13 million British residents is stored, could have fallen into the hands of hackers.
"We are aware of the incident and we are working with our law enforcement partners to understand and limit the extent of its potential consequences," the Kingdom's National Cyber Security Center said.
The ransomware attack reportedly targeted the British IT company Dacoll, one of whose divisions provides remote access to PNC for 90% of UK police forces.
The company confirms that the incident happened on October 5, but claims that it was related only to the company's internal network and did not affect its clients or their systems. Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday claims that information from Dacoll's customers was put up for sale after the company refused to pay a ransom to hackers, the amount of which was not disclosed.
British cybersecurity expert Philip Ingram said that the damage caused by such a data leak is immeasurable, as now there are serious questions about the security of solutions used by numerous public and private organizations.
It is worth noting that the Clop group has been actively using the malware family with the same name since the winter of 2019, demanding a ransom for the return of access to blocked data. Some companies specializing in protection against hackers have suggested that some of the members of the group live in Russia.
Group-IB found out that carding is losing its appeal to cybercriminals. At the same time, sales of magnetic stripe content of bank cards and text data of bank cards decreased in Russia and the CIS, while the market for such data grew worldwide.
According to Hi-Tech Crime Trends Group-IB, the volume of the shadow carding market in Russia and the CIS has decreased by 77%. The number of bank card data posted for sale on the darknet and attributed to banks in Russia and the CIS decreased by 60%.
The market for text data of bank cards (number, expiration date, holder name, address, CVV) decreased by 44%.
A similar trend is typical for the global carding market: its volume decreased by 26%. Group-IB attributed this trend to a decrease in dump sales due to the closure of the largest cardshop Joker's Stash.
At the same time, in the global market, the amount of text data of bank cards in the shadow market increased by 36%.
Group-IB believes that the increase in the number of sold text data is associated with the increase in phishing during the pandemic. The company expects that the number of sales of bank cards will continue to gradually decline.
According to his experts, the activity of skimmers and online stores on the proliferation of these cards in Russia is declining. This is due to the development of banks, for example, introducing systems such as 3-D Secure. Moreover, such protection systems are not widespread in the world. This explains that the market for text data of bank cards has grown worldwide, while in Russia it has decreased.
Experts add that the share of Russian-language messages is growing on shadow forums: in order to minimize personal risks, hackers are trying to steal payment data from customers in other countries, which negatively affects global statistics.