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:
- Office 365 Phishing Campaign Uses Kaspersky’s Amazon SES Token
November 1, 2021
A surge in spearphishing emails designed to steal Office 365 credentials were rigged to look like they came from a Kaspersky email address. In spite of coming from sender addresses such as [email protected], nobody at Kaspersky sent the phishing emails, the security company said in an advisory issued on Monday. Rather, the emails were sent with ...
- Europol: 12 Targeted For Involvement In Ransomware Attacks Against Critical Infrastructure
October 29, 2021
A total of 12 individuals wreaking havoc across the world with ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure have been targeted as the result of a law enforcement and judicial operation involving eight countries. These attacks are believed to have affected over 1 800 victims in 71 countries. These cyber actors are known for specifically targeting large corporations, ...
- TrickBot malware dev extradited to U.S. faces 60 years in prison
October 29, 2021
A Russian national believed to be a member of the TrickBot malware development team has been extradited to the U.S. and is currently facing charges that could get him 60 years in prison. 38-year old Vladimir Dunaev, also known as FFX, was a malware developer that supervised the creation of TrickBot’s browser injection module, the indictment ...
- Schreiber Foods back to normal after ransomware attack shuts down milk plants
October 29, 2021
Schreiber Foods said its plants and distribution centers are back up and running after a ransomware attack took down their systems earlier last weekend. The food production giant became the latest critical industry company to be hit with ransomware in recent months as cybercriminals continue to show little fear in attacking a variety of industries. Schreiber ...
- Suspected REvil Gang Insider Identified
October 28, 2021
He lolls around on yachts, wears a luxury watch with a Bitcoin address engraved on its dial, and is suspected of buying it all with money he made as a core member of the REvil ransomware gang. The showy billionaire goes by “Nikolay K.”on social media, and German police are hoping he’ll cruise out of Russia ...
- EU Green Pass-generation keys stolen – sources
October 27, 2021
Some of the keys used to generate the European Green Pass have been stolen and distributed on programming networks to create false COVID-19 health certificates, qualified Italian sources said on Wednesday. A series of meetings at the EU level were being held on Wednesday to examine the situation, according to the sources. Read more… Source: ANSA News