Close-Knit Russian Hacker Gang Hoards 1.2 Billion ID Creds A gang of one-time bottom feeders has collected some 1.2 billion usernames, passwords, and other pieces of identifying online information, according to information security firm Hold Security. The gang operates out of a single Russian city, Hold Security founder Alex Holden told PCMag on Tuesday, confirming many of the details first reported by The New York Times. Holden declined to name the city, in the event that law enforcement might want to act on his Milwaukee-based companys findings. The gang numbers less than a dozen individuals who are very social with each other, Holden said. The security contractor and researcher said cybercriminal gangs like the one his firm discovered have been kind of dying out of late in favor of loosely affiliated individuals working together semi-anonymously. The group which Hold Security has been tracking appears to be a throwback of sorts. They are much closer knit than other groups we see, possibly they have less conflicts over money because they know each other, he said. Holden believes the gang has amassed confidential material gathered from 420,000 websites, ranging from household names to small Internet sites, the Times reported. The newspaper added validity to Hold Securitys claims by having another security expert look at the companys database of stolen credentials—that expert confirmed it was authentic, according to the Times. The massive database of stolen online identification data purportedly owned by the Russian gang was not attained in a single attack, and in fact, most of the credentials it now possesses were likely purchased over time from other people, Holden said. The Times speculated that credentials acquired by the gang might have come from both high-profile, corporate security breaches like the Target hack from late last year to simple, opportunistic penetrations of small online operations. The gang started by just buying the databases that were available over the Internet. They used to be bottom feeders, buying at fire sales. Over time, they started buying better quality databases. Its kind of like graduating from stealing bicycles to stealing expensive cars, he said. But the gang has recently begun running, or perhaps renting, a botnet of its own to perform SQL injections on websites to gain user information, Holden said, adding that this was how his company spotted the group. Hold Security is still trying to piece together exactly how such a massive database of online credentials was assembled. We recently got the full scope of their misdeeds and we were just as shocked as many who are now reading this news, Holden said, describing how his company managed to get a peek into their dark world by establishing online relationships with some of the hackers. Looking at some of the data theyve stolen, Ive even seen some my own passwords. Nothing significant, but shocking nonetheless, he said. #Russian #Hacker #Gang
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 17:32:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015