According to the US Justice Department, the operation was directed at Genesis Market, an invitation-only crime forum that has been selling information obtained from more than 1.5 million computers worldwide that contains the login information for more than 80 million user accounts over the past five years.
On Tuesday, the FBI carried out raids on the main websites conducting cybercrime activities from more than a dozen countries, from the Netherlands to Australia.
A senior FBI official told reporters on Wednesday that at least some of the arrests took place in the US but declined to provide any more details due to an ongoing investigation. “Victims of Genesis incurred losses that exceed tens of millions of dollars,” the FBI official said.
Reportedly, 45 of 56 FBI field offices across the US were involved in the investigation, with Attorney General Merrick Garland, in a statement calling the cybercrime sting operation “unprecedented” for law enforcement.
According to the seizure notice seen by CNN, the FBI seized the web domains of Genesis Market in response to a court order from the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. As per the seizure notice, the FBI called the takedown "Operation Cookie Monster," a pun on the forum's sale of "cookies," or information about web browsers.
The Genesis Market has played a major part in providing cybercriminals access to compromised computers to carry out cyber frauds like identity theft and ransomware attacks.
According to cybersecurity researchers, the crime forum, which has advertised login information for individual bank accounts, was developed out of research that hackers conducted on anti-fraud technologies used by hundreds of banks and payment networks.
Genesis Market also offers "digital fingerprints" for sale, a collection of computer-generated information used to identify specific people online. According to researchers of cybersecurity company Sophos, advertisements on Genesis Market have asserted that a hacked computer's fingerprints will remain current as long as someone has access to it.
The seizure conducted by the FBI is the latest of the many international law enforcement stings that involve coordinated arrests and raids globally.
Genesis Market “was one of the most, if not the most popular marketplace for stolen network and user information[…]Based on my experience, the void will be filled by those who were not arrested,” said Khodjibaev senior threat intelligence analyst at Cisco Talos.
While some claimed cybercriminals are taken offline by arrests, there is however an extensive demand for stolen personal data, which leads to the rapid emergence of new alleged hackers to fill their places.