The takedown, dubbed Operation Cookie Monster, was carried out by law enforcement agencies from 17 countries, the British broadcaster BBC reported.
The Polish police’s anti-cyber crime unit (CBZC) took part in the operation, which was overseen by America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Netherlands Police.
Overall, 208 searches were conducted around the world, and 119 people were arrested, according to Polish officials.
“This is the biggest operation of its kind,” a senior FBI official told the TechCrunch website. "We’re not just going after administrators or taking sites down; we’re going after users on a global scale."
The coordinated international operation against Genesis Market began at dawn on Tuesday, and was announced by the FBI on Wednesday.
Photo: policja.pl
Criminal online marketplace
Described as “a notorious hacker marketplace,” Genesis Market sold login details, IP addresses and other data that represented victims' "digital browser fingerprints," according to news outlets.
Genesis Market had 80 million sets of credentials and digital fingerprints up for sale, the BBC reported.
Britain’s National Crime Agency called the website "an enormous enabler of fraud."
According to the FBI, Genesis Market has made at least USD 8.7 million from the sale of stolen credentials, but “complete total losses likely exceed tens of millions of dollars,” TechCrunch reported.
Operation Cookie Monster in Poland
As part of Operation Cookie Monster, Polish police officers from Warsaw, Białystok, Katowice, Kraków, Lublin, Łódź, Rzeszów, Szczecin and Wrocław on Tuesday carried out a series of raids, making 14 searches and arresting five people aged 17 to 29, officials said.
The suspects were charged with “acquiring computer passwords, login details and other data that allows access to information stored in IT systems,” reporters were told.
In a statement announcing the success of Operation Cookie Monster, Polish police advised members of the public to visit a special website set up by the Netherlands Police to find out if their online data had been compromised.
Polish officers also listed simple precautions to avoid being targeted by hackers.
(pm/gs)
Source: policja.pl, justice.gov, BBC, TechCrunch