FBI seizes Genesis cybercriminal marketplace in ‘Operation Cookie Monster’

The FBI has seized the Genesis Market, one of the largest and most widely used Dark Web forums for stolen cookies, credentials, and tokens, plus bots and other tools for initial access to victim networks. It’s yet another blow dealt by international law enforcement to those engaged in cybercriminal activity worldwide.

On Tuesday, the homepage of the marketplace was replaced with a notice that “this website has been seized” by the FBI as part of “Operation Cookie Monster.” The notice cited a seizure warrant issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin as the impetus for the activity.

The seizure of Genesis was a collaborative effort between international law enforcement agencies and the private sector, according to the notice, which included the logos of European law enforcement agency Europol; Guardia Civil in Spain; Polisen, the police force in Sweden; and the Canadian government.

The FBI also is seeking to speak those who’ve been active on the Genesis Market or who are in touch with administrators of the forum, offering an email address for people to contact the agency.

Takedown of a Significant Initial Access Broker

Genesis was founded in 2017 as an invitation-only marketplace offering malicious actors access to other people’s data, from credentials and cookies to digital fingerprints.

A report last August by Sophos shed light on just how impressive an operation the site had become as an initial access broker (IAB), a service that helps threat actors gain a foothold in targeted networks to conduct various nefarious activity, including ransomware and cyber espionage.

“Genesis Marketplace is one of the earliest full-fledged IABs, and certainly one of the most polished,” Sophos researchers said in the report at the time.

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