FBI: We Obtained Details on 59,000 Users of Hacking Site Genesis Market

pcmag.com:

The FBI obtained details on potentially tens of thousands of hackers in its takedown of Genesis Market, a site popular in the cybercriminal world for selling access to user accounts. 

In a Wednesday briefing, senior FBI and Justice Department officials revealed that law enforcement identified and copied the backend servers for Genesis Market’s main site. These servers contain stolen passwords and session cookies from victims, along with data on customers of the infamous hacking site. 

A US official says the server copies include information about approximately 59,000 individual user accounts, such as usernames, passwords, email accounts, and secure messenger accounts, in addition to a history of user activity. 

The FBI and its partners have already made 119 arrests, including 24 in the UK, in connection with the site’s shutdown. However, the data uncovered in the server seizures could help law enforcement nab even more suspects. 

The Justice Department confirms that some of the arrested suspects include US residents, but it couldn’t provide an exact number. US officials also declined to say if it had arrested any leaders of Genesis Market. However, the Treasury Department noted that the hacking site “is believed to be located in Russia,” a country that has long refused to extradite criminal suspects to the US. 

So it’s likely the main operators of Genesis Market escaped arrest and will try to revive their activities. The FBI has shut down the main domain for the marketplace. However, the dark web onion site for Genesis remains up.

For now, US officials would only say they are focused on nabbing leaders of the site and applying pressure on the cybercriminal world. The takedown comes weeks after law enforcement shut down