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:
- SunCrypt Ransomware sheds light on the Maze ransomware cartel
August 26, 2020
A ransomware named SunCrypt has joined the ‘Maze cartel,’ and with their membership, we get insight into how these groups are working together. In June, we broke the story that the Maze threat actors created a cartel of ransomware operations to share information and techniques to help each other extort their victims. When first started, this cartel ...
- US government warns of North Korean hackers targeting banks worldwide
August 26, 2020
North Korean hackers tracked as BeagleBoyz have been using malicious remote access tools as part of ongoing attacks to steal millions from international banks according to a joint advisory issued today by several U.S. Government agencies. The joint release says that North Korea’s BeagleBoyz hacking group has once again started robbing banks through remote internet access ...
- New Zealand stock exchange halted trading after DDoS attacks
August 26, 2020
New Zealand’s stock exchange (NZX) has been impacted by distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks during the last two days, forcing it to shut down trading until the connectivity issues were resolved. NZX operates New Zealand’s capital, risk, and commodity markets, and it supplies market information including real-time stock quotes, market data and news. The stock market announced around ...
- Conti (Ryuk) joins the ranks of ransomware gangs operating data leak sites
August 25, 2020
It has now become a mainstream tactic for big ransomware groups to create so-called “leak sites” where they upload and leak sensitive documents from companies who refuse to pay the ransomware decryption fee. These “leak sites” are part of a new trend forming on the cybercriminal underground where ransomware groups are adopting a new tactic called ...
- Brute-force cyberattacks on the rise in Brazil
August 24, 2020
Brazil has seen a spike in brute-force cyberattacks driven by the increase in remote working, according to a new report on security threats in the first six months of 2020. More than 2.6 billion attempts at cyber attacks have been recorded by cybersecurity firm Fortinet from January to June, out of a total of 15 billion ...
- Group of unskilled Iranian hackers behind recent attacks with Dharma ransomware
August 24, 2020
Cyber-security firm Group-IB says it identified a group of low-skilled hackers operating out of Iran that has been launching attacks against companies in Asia and attempting to encrypt their networks with a version of the Dharma ransomware. The attacks have targeted companies located in Russia, Japan, China, and India, according to a report Group-IB researchers published ...
