Recently, our team exposed sophisticated scam kits designed to steal sensitive data and trick consumers. But underground marketplaces are not just for malware and stolen passwords. They also offer services designed to manipulate your opinion of the products and services you buy every day.
In our latest research, we examined cybercrime forums where sellers advertise illicit “reputation management” services. For the right price, these underground operators offer to flood a product with glowing, five-star ratings or remove negative reviews. This shadowy industry works both ways—artificially boosting reputations and deliberately hiding legitimate complaints.
A major shift we are seeing in this space is the adoption of new technology. We also found that cybercriminals are using AI to automate these fake review campaigns. This could allow them to quickly generate realistic, human-sounding feedback in large volumes without much manual effort.
Read more…
Source: Malwarebytes Labs
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- China’s Ministry of State Security warns of data security risks after Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center cyberattack
August 16, 2023
China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) on Wednesday warned of data security risks after recent reports identified US intelligence agencies were behind a cyberattack on Wuhan Earthquake Monitoring Center. A joint investigation team formed by the National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) and Chinese cybersecurity company 360 discovered malicious backdoor software that exhibits characteristics of ...
- Cyber crimes in Germany down 6.5% in 2022, federal police say
August 16, 2023
Cyber crimes in Germany fell by 6.5% in 2022, federal police said on Wednesday, but the decline was not a “relief” as the attacks were more severe and those originating from overseas rose by more than 8%. The economic damage was 203 billion euros ($221.59 billion), down slightly from last year, but still double that of ...
- More than 100,000 hackers have details exposed through malware on cyber crime forums
August 15, 2023
Researchers have revealed that more than 100,000 hackers could be operating on compromised devices due to their involvement on cyber crime forums. A study from Hudson Rock identified around 120,000 devices infected with malware that contained login credentials for cyber crime forums. The firm said that many of the individuals operating with compromised machines may have ...
- Discord.io gets taken down after massive data breach
August 15, 2023
Discord.io, a third-party service that helps people generate custom invites for their Discord channels, has been hacked, and information on some 760,000 members stolen. The service has since suspended its operations, and the attacker explained that this is actually a ransom attack – with a twist. As seen on BleepingComputer, a user going by the name ...
- Clorox says certain business operations disrupted in cyber attack
August 14, 2023
Clorox said on Monday it had taken certain systems offline after unauthorized activity disrupted some business operations. It said it was implementing workarounds for certain offline operations in order to continue servicing its customers and had engaged third-party cybersecurity experts to support its investigation and recovery efforts. Read more… Source: MSN News
- Bangladesh Bank warns banks and financial institutions against cyber attacks
August 12, 2023
The Bangladesh Bank has issued out a comprehensive 11-point instruction in a situational alert, urging all banks and financial institutions to bolster their cyber defences. This move comes on the heels of a recent cyber threat targeting the country’s cyber sphere, with potential implications for critical state information infrastructure (CII), including banking, healthcare, and government operations. Read ...