PRESS RELEASE

NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BigID, a data security, privacy, compliance, and AI data management company, today announced the launch of Data Activity Monitoring. BigID empowers organizations to proactively identify risks, respond faster to potential threats, and help strengthen regulatory compliance. BigID's Data Activity Monitoring helps organizations manage the risk of data breaches and strengthens their overall security posture by alerting on potential insider risk, unauthorized access, and data misuse.

Unlike traditional Data Detection & Response (DDR) tools that are limited to sensitive data discovery and policy violations, BigID's Data Activity Monitoring goes further by tracking data access activity. With insights into who is accessing data, when, how, and what they're doing with it, Data Activity Monitoring enhances the contextual intelligence needed for comprehensive data security and proactive breach prevention.

Key Benefits of BigID's Data Activity Monitoring:

*   Enhanced Security Decision-Making: Get contextual, data-driven insights for more accurate decisions on access control, retention, and remediation.
    
*   Proactive Risk & Access Management: Monitor activity around sensitive data to identify unnecessary permissions, over-permissioned users, and potential insider threats before breaches occur.
    
*   Streamlined Compliance & Auditing: Generate detailed audit trails that help meet regulatory requirements, simplifying compliance and enhancing data governance.
    
*   Efficient Security Investigations: Gather contextual insights into data access patterns, enabling faster investigations and accurate remediation.
    
*   Improved Data Ownership Accountability: Track user interactions with data to clarify ownership and facilitate efficient delegation of security tasks.
    

"With Data Activity Monitoring, we're redefining the level of control and visibility organizations have over their data," said Dimitri Sirota, CEO of BigID. "Our customers need to be able to not only have visibility into their sensitive data but also understand how it's accessed and used, and enact controls around it. BigID's Data Activity Monitoring goes beyond detection, providing near real-time insights necessary to help prevent data breaches, support compliance, and empower security teams to make informed decisions."

To learn more: 

About BigID

BigID empowers organizations to know their enterprise data and take action for data-centric security, privacy, compliance, AI innovation, and governance. Customers deploy BigID to proactively discover, manage, protect, and get more value from their regulated, sensitive, and personal data across their data landscape.

BigID has earned numerous accolades, including being highlighted as CRN's top 100 security companies two years in a row in 2024 and 2023, a finalist in CRN's 2024 Tech Innovator Awards, recognized as the most innovative security company of the year for its AI data security in the 2024 Globee Awards, and named as a "Market Leader Data Security Posture Management (DSPM)" in the 2023 Global InfoSec Awards. Additionally, BigID's impressive growth earned it a spot on the 2024 Deloitte 500 for the fourth consecutive year, one of CNBC's Top 25 Startups for the Enterprise, named to the Forbes Cloud 100, and recognized on the 2024 Inc. 5000 for the fourth consecutive year.

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BigID Releases Data Activity Monitoring to Extend DDR, Detect Malicious Actors, and Strengthen Data Security Posture

PRESS RELEASE

TAMPA BAY, Fla., Dec. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- KnowBe4, the world-renowned cybersecurity platform that comprehensively addresses human risk management, today released its Q3 2024 Phishing Report. This quarter's findings reveal the most frequently clicked email subjects in simulated phishing tests, demonstrating the continued efficacy of HR and IT-related phishing attempts.

KnowBe4's Q3 2024 Phishing Report reveals that HR and IT-related phishing emails claim a significant 48.6% share of top-clicked phishing types globally. Despite evolving techniques by bad actors, phishing emails remain among the most prevalent tools for executing cyberattacks. KnowBe4's 2024 Phishing by Industry Benchmarking Report reveals that about one in three users is susceptible to interacting with malicious links or fraudulent requests. Exploiting this vulnerability, cybercriminals craft deceptively authentic phishing emails that align with current trends, exploiting human emotions to invoke urgency and trick recipients into clicking malicious links or opening harmful attachments.

The report spotlights the ongoing threat posed by email-embedded phishing links, which continue to be the top attack vector of choice. These malicious links, PDF attachments and spoofed domains, when interacted with, often result in disastrous cyberattacks, including ransomware attacks and business email compromise. The report also reveals a surge in phishing campaigns leveraging QR codes. Popular QR code phishing subjects include HR reminders for policy reviews, DocuSign emails to sign an urgent document, and Zoom meeting invitations. These messages, often masquerading as communication from HR, colleagues or external vendors, pose substantial risks as they can easily be replicated by malicious actors.

"Our latest phishing report underscores the evolving sophistication of phishing tactics, with cybercriminals increasingly exploiting the trust employees place in internal communications," said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4. "The prevalence of HR and IT-themed phishing attempts, coupled with emerging techniques like QR code integration, presents a complex threat landscape. These tactics are particularly deceptive as they leverage the perceived legitimacy of trusted sources, often prompting hasty actions before verification. In this rapidly changing environment, a well-trained workforce and a robust security culture are not just beneficial—they are essential. By prioritizing human risk management, organizations can effectively build a formidable defense against avoidable cyberthreats."

To download a copy of the Q3 2024 KnowBe4 Phishing Report infographic, visit here.

About KnowBe4 

KnowBe4 empowers workforces to make smarter security decisions every day. Trusted by over 70,000 organizations worldwide, KnowBe4 helps to strengthen security culture and manage human risk. KnowBe4 offers a comprehensive AI-driven 'best-of-suite' platform for Human Risk Management, creating an adaptive defense layer that fortifies user behavior against the latest cybersecurity threats. The HRM+ platform includes modules for awareness & compliance training, cloud email security, real-time coaching, crowdsourced anti-phishing, AI Defense Agents, and more. As the only global security platform of its kind, KnowBe4 utilizes personalized and relevant cybersecurity protection content, tools and techniques to mobilize workforces to transform from the largest attack surface to an organization's biggest asset.

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KnowBe4 Releases the Latest Phishing Trends in Q3 2024 Phishing Report

Companies today constantly look for ways to improve their work with customers and perform better overall. The transition…

Companies today constantly look for ways to improve their work with customers and perform better overall. The transition to a more digital approach has become important for businesses that want to stay ahead in the market. A big part of this change is using customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Salesforce is one of the top choices for CRMs because it offers a wide range of features that can be adapted to different industries. This article will explore how using Salesforce can help drive digital transformation in organizations.

****Understanding Digital Transformation****

Digital transformation involves integrating technology into various aspects of business operations to change how companies function and fundamentally provide value to customers. It encompasses a culture shift that requires organizations to question traditional approaches, test new technologies, and adjust to evolving market trends.

According to Skydog Ops, a Salesforce integration company, Salesforce hosts more than 150,000 customers worldwide including Apple, Amazon Web Service and Walmart Inc, showcasing productivity and enhanced customer satisfaction.

****The Significance of CRM Systems****

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems play a critical role in driving transformation initiatives by enabling businesses to manage interactions with current and prospective customers more efficiently. These tools assist companies in gathering and analyzing customer data to improve decision-making and tailor experiences. Through the use of CRM systems, businesses can optimize their operations, automate tasks, and cultivate meaningful connections with customers.

****Salesforce: A Leader in CRM Solutions****

Salesforce has emerged as a leader in the CRM industry with its range of cloud-based solutions designed for sales support, customer service, and other business needs. Among the platform’s functionalities are wide applications that help businesses organize customer information, analyze interactions, and gather valuable insights. These tools are customized to fit an organization’s goals during its digital transformation efforts.

****Enhancing Customer Experience****

One of the primary goals of digital transformation is to enhance the customer experience, and Salesforce aids in achieving this by enabling companies to offer personalized and seamless interactions across various platforms. Leveraging real-time customer data allows businesses to customize their marketing strategies, delivering relevant content and promotions. Furthermore, with Salesforce’s automation features, organizations can provide timely responses to customer queries, improving satisfaction and fostering customer loyalty.

**Streamlining Business Processes**

Integrating Salesforce into business operations can greatly improve efficiency by automating routine tasks and enabling employees to focus on strategic priorities instead of manual work such as data entry, reporting, or workflow management. This shift toward automation helps minimize errors and boosts productivity across the organization. These improvements align with the goals of digital transformation, which seek to enhance both efficiency and effectiveness.

****Data-Driven Decision Making****

In today’s digital age, data is a valuable asset, and Salesforce equips businesses with the tools to unlock its full potential. By utilizing the in-depth analytics and reporting tools provided by Salesforce, businesses can gain insights into customer behaviour, discover sales patterns, and identify market opportunities. This data-driven approach allows companies to make informed decisions, refine strategies, and highlight areas for improvement—ultimately leading to enhanced agility and adaptability in response to evolving market dynamics.

****Fostering Collaboration and Innovation****

Salesforce’s use of cloud technology promotes collaboration by improving communication between departments and sparking creativity through shared access to information and ideas across the organization. The ability to work together seamlessly helps foster innovation and drives organizational growth.

****Scalability and Flexibility****

As companies grow and evolve, their requirements change. Salesforce’s scalability allows businesses to adapt their CRM system to meet the demands of growth and shifting circumstances. The platform’s versatility enables organizations to integrate new functionalities and applications, tailoring the system to meet their specific needs. This flexibility ensures that Salesforce remains a valuable tool throughout the entire transformation process.

****Overcoming Implementation Challenges****

Implementing Salesforce comes with its own set of challenges that organizations must address. Proper planning and execution are essential to avoid setbacks. To ensure a smooth rollout, it’s important to evaluate business requirements, set clear goals, and provide adequate training for employees. Working with professionals or consultants can also make the process more efficient, allowing businesses to fully leverage the benefits of Salesforce.

****Conclusion****

The use of Salesforce is crucial in leading the digital evolution of businesses across various sectors. Its wide range of features, flexibility, and focus on customer satisfaction make it an effective tool for improving productivity, promoting creativity, and gaining a competitive advantage. By adopting Salesforce, organizations can unlock the full benefits of digital transformation and position themselves for long-term success in an increasingly digital world.

1.  A Look at the 4 Main Functionalities of NetSuite
2.  The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Lead Generation
3.  How to Find Success with the Salesforce Admin Exam
4.  Types of SaaS Applications: Categories and Examples
5.  Effective, and powerful tools for identifying site visitors

The Role of Salesforce Implementation in Digital Transformation

A change in ownership and what it means for our readers.

Source: Informa TechTarget

Dear Reader,

Today, Informa Tech, the company behind Dark Reading, is combining with TechTarget's technology websites and Industry Dive's award-winning industry publications to create a new company: Informa TechTarget.

Our editorial footprint is greatly expanding. The combined Informa TechTarget newsroom features many of the most trusted publications in B2B media, over 300 world-class business journalists, and in-depth coverage across 30+ technology segments and 45+ industry verticals. In 2025 alone, we expect to produce over 60,000 stories that provide essential information for our readers across many markets. 

For more information, you can read the company's press release and check out our combined portfolio of publications.

Our commitment to you remains the same here at Dark Reading. Our group of highly experienced cybersecurity journalists will continue to independently report on the most notable developments, innovations, and disruptions in our industry. Whether navigating new technologies, cyber threats and vulnerabilities, regulations, or market dynamics, you need insight you can trust to make smart decisions and navigate the evolving cybersecurity business landscape. Readers who come to Dark Reading can expect reliable industry information they can't get anywhere else. 

Thank you for reading — and stay tuned for more vital coverage and resources as we continue to grow.

Kelly Jackson Higgins

Editor-in-Chief, Dark Reading

**About the Author**

Kelly Jackson Higgins is the Editor-in-Chief of Dark Reading. She is an award-winning veteran technology and business journalist with more than two decades of experience in reporting and editing for various publications, including Network Computing, Secure Enterprise Magazine, Virginia Business magazine, and other major media properties. Jackson Higgins was recently selected as one of the Top 10 Cybersecurity Journalists in the US, and named as one of Folio's 2019 Top Women in Media. She began her career as a sports writer in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, and earned her BA at William & Mary. Follow her on Twitter @kjhiggins.

Note From the Editor-in-Chief

An implementation bug in the Kolide Agent (known as `launcher`) allows for local privilege escalation to the SYSTEM user on Windows 10 and 11. Impacted versions include versions >= 1.5.3 and the fix has been released in 1.12.3. 

The bug was introduced in version 1.5.3 when launcher started storing upgraded binaries in the ProgramData directory (#1510). This move to the new directory meant the launcher root directory inherited default permissions that are not as strict as the previous location. These incorrect default permissions in conjunction with an omitted SystemDrive environmental variable (when launcher starts osqueryd), allows a malicious actor with access to the local Windows device to successfully place an arbitrary DLL into the osqueryd process's search path. Under some circumstances, this DLL will be executed when osqueryd performs a WMI query. This combination of events could then allow the attacker to escalate their privileges to SYSTEM.

This issue was found by Bryan Alexander of Atredis Partners and responsibly reported through the Kolide bug bounty program. Kolide made the appropriate changes and released a fix in version 1.12.3 of the `launcher` package.


1.  GitHub Advisory Database
2.  GitHub Reviewed
3.  CVE-2024-54131

**Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)**

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Dec 3, 2024 in kolide/launcher • Updated Dec 3, 2024

**Package**

gomod github.com/kolide/launcher (Go)

**Affected versions**

\>= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3

An implementation bug in the Kolide Agent (known as launcher) allows for local privilege escalation to the SYSTEM user on Windows 10 and 11. Impacted versions include versions >= 1.5.3 and the fix has been released in 1.12.3.

The bug was introduced in version 1.5.3 when launcher started storing upgraded binaries in the ProgramData directory (#1510). This move to the new directory meant the launcher root directory inherited default permissions that are not as strict as the previous location. These incorrect default permissions in conjunction with an omitted SystemDrive environmental variable (when launcher starts osqueryd), allows a malicious actor with access to the local Windows device to successfully place an arbitrary DLL into the osqueryd process's search path. Under some circumstances, this DLL will be executed when osqueryd performs a WMI query. This combination of events could then allow the attacker to escalate their privileges to SYSTEM.

This issue was found by Bryan Alexander of Atredis Partners and responsibly reported through the Kolide bug bounty program. Kolide made the appropriate changes and released a fix in version 1.12.3 of the launcher package.

**References**

*   GHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5
*   kolide/launcher#1510

Published to the GitHub Advisory Database

Dec 3, 2024

GHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5: Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)

AI chatbot provider WotNot left a cloud storage bucket exposed that contained almost 350,000 files, including personally identifiable information.

Researchers have discovered a huge Google Cloud Storage bucket, found freely accessible on the internet and containing a treasure trove of personal information.

AI startup WotNot provides companies with the ability to create their own customized chatbot. The company reportedly has 3,000 customers including some household family names.

But the way its solution is set up introduces an extra link in the chain in the flow of personally identifiable information (PII) from the customer to the company that deployed the chatbot, leaving an additional risk of exposure.

Given the variety in the data the researchers found in the 346,381 files, they suspect that it stems from several WotNot customers. Some of the records that were found included:

*   Identification documents including passports, which contain information like full names, dates of birth, passport numbers, and other information cybercriminals love to get their hands on.
*   Medical records including diagnoses, treatment history, test results and other medical information that should be private.
*   Resumes which include employment history, addresses, education, and contact data like email addresses and phone numbers.

All in all, if a group of cybercriminals finds data like that they can deploy all sorts of schemes to defraud the people whose information they found—ranging from phishing mails that look convincing because they include personal information, to identity theft.

In a statement, WotNot said:

> “The cause for the breach was that the cloud storage bucket policies were modified to accommodate a specific use case. However, we regretfully missed thoroughly verifying its accessibility, which inadvertently left the data exposed.”

The “specific use case”  seems to be that these customers were using the “free plan” which apparently comes with no security.

WotNot clarified:

> “For enterprise customers, we provide private instances to ensure security and compliance standards are strictly adhered to.”

WotNot also said it typically recommends that its customers delete such files from the server after they have been received and forwarded to their own systems. I would recommend that WotNot customers provide their own customers with a method to send them such files directly.

We have already seen way too many cases where leaks in the supply chain have exposed data from people who had never heard of the company that leaked them.

If anything, the incident shows the importance of checking where your data is going before providing companies with sensitive personal information. But it also demonstrates it’s not always clear to the end user whether there are extra links in the chain to the company they are dealing with.

If you do get a chance, don’t send sensitive data to a chatbot, but ask for a safe company email address instead.

**We don’t just report on threats – we help safeguard your entire digital identity**

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your—and your family’s—personal information by using identity protection.

 AI chatbot provider exposes 346,000 customer files, including ID documents, resumes, and medical records 

Cisco encourages users to update to an unaffected version of its Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software since there are no workarounds for the 2014 vulnerability.

Source: Kristoffer Tripplaar via Alamy Stock Photo

NEWS BRIEF

Cisco is warning customers of a security vulnerability impacting its Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) that is actively being exploited by threat actors.

The bug, tracked as CVE-2014-2120 and a decade old, involves insufficient input validation in ASA's WebVPN login page, through which an unauthenticated remote attacker could enact a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack.

In 2014, Cisco noted that "the vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of a parameter," adding that an attacker could exploit the vulnerability by convincing the user to click on a malicious link.

Cisco now reports it became aware of in-the-wild exploitation attempts in November 2024 and recommends that customers upgrade to a fixed software release to mitigate the vulnerability. There are no workarounds for this flaw.

"Exploiting decade-old vulnerabilities like the ASA WebVPN bug underscores a persistent challenge in cybersecurity, that legacy vulnerabilities often remain unaddressed due to the sheer volume of security issues organizations face today," Meny Har, CEO and co-founder of Opus Security, said in an emailed statement to Dark Reading. "Without effective prioritization frameworks, critical vulnerabilities can slip through the cracks."

Decade-Old Cisco Vulnerability Under Active Exploit

At WIRED’s The Big Interview event, the president of the Signal Foundation talked about secure communications as critical infrastructure and the need for a new funding paradigm for tech.

“We don’t want to be the outlier that proves the rule, we want to be a new set of rules leading the way to a much more open and diverse tech ecosystem,” Whittaker said, “that isn’t reliant on like five companies and 15 guys and a paradigm that is very, very stale and ultimately not healthy for the world and the future.”

It costs around $50 million per year to run Signal, and Whittaker noted at the event that there are no easy answers to finding that type of funding—or more—for projects that need consistent, independent, and secure backing without being subject to the forces of data monetization and surveillance capitalism.

“None of this is simple, friend,” Whittaker said. “There’s a type of capital we need. How do we get it?”

The first Trump presidency in the United States was increasingly hostile to encryption and independent tech, so with a new Trump administration looming and anti-encryption advocates making inroads in governments around the world, what comes next for Signal?

“Signal knows who we are. Signal will continue being Signal,” Whittaker says. “Signal has one thing we do, and we do it really well and we do it pretty obsessively, and that is: provide truly private communications infrastructure to everyone, everywhere, globally. Full stop. We’re not changing.”

With Threats to Encryption Looming, Signal’s Meredith Whittaker Says ‘We’re Not Changing’

The FTC is targeting data brokers that monitored people’s movements during protests and around US military installations. But signs suggest the Trump administration will be far more lenient.

The United States Federal Trade Commission is taking action against two American data brokers accused of unlawfully trafficking in people’s sensitive location data. The data was used, the agency says, to track Americans in and around churches, military bases, and doctors’ offices, among other protected sites. It was sold not only for advertising purposes but also for political campaigns and government uses, including immigration enforcement.

Mobilewalla, a Georgia-based data broker that’s said to have digitally tracked the residents of domestic abuse shelters, is accused by the agency of purposefully tracking protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in 2020. In a court filing, the FTC says Mobilewalla attempted to unmask the protesters’ racial identities by tracking their mobile devices to, for example, Hindu temples and Black churches.

The FTC also accused Gravy Analytics and its subsidiary Venntel of harvesting and exploiting consumers’ location data without consent, alleging that the company used that data to unfairly infer health decisions and religious beliefs.

According to the FTC, Gravy Analytics collected over 17 billion location signals from approximately a billion mobile devices daily. It has reportedly sold access to that data to federal law enforcement agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Gravy Analytics could not be immediately reached for comment.

A spokesperson for Mobilewalla says the company's privacy policies are constantly evolving, adding: “While we disagree with many of the FTC’s allegations and implications that Mobilewalla tracks and targets individuals based on sensitive categories, we are satisfied that the resolution will allow us to continue providing valuable insights to businesses in a manner that respects and protects consumer privacy.”

“This data can be used to identify and target consumers based on their religion,” the FTC says. The location data collected by the two companies makes it possible, the agency says, to “identify where individual consumers lived, worked, and worshipped, thus suggesting the mobile device user’s religion and routine and identifying the user’s friends and families.”

According to the two settlements, which must be finalized in court before they would go into effect, Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla are barred from collecting sensitive location data from consumers and must delete the historical data they gathered on millions of Americans. Mobilewalla would be banned from acquiring location data and other sensitive information from online auctions known as real-time bidding exchanges, marketplaces where advertisers compete to instantaneously deliver ads to targeted consumers. This case marks the first time the FTC has moved to police the collection of data directly from an ad exchange.

In another first, the proposed Gravy Analytics settlement would introduce military installations to the list of “sensitive locations” where the FTC bans location tracking. Under the terms, the company would be prohibited from selling, disclosing, or using data drawn from these locations, which include mental health clinics, substance abuse centers, and child care service providers.

In November, a collaborative investigation by WIRED, Bayerischer Rundfunk, and Netzpolitik.org revealed that over 3 billion phone location data points, collected by a US-based data broker, exposed the movements of US military and intelligence personnel in Germany. These movements included visits to nuclear vaults and brothels. In that story, WIRED first reported on FTC chair Lina Khan’s efforts to shield US military and intelligence personnel from data brokers.

US senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who first urged the FTC to take action against Mobilewalla in 2020, praised the announcements, calling the companies’ actions “outrageous violations of Americans’ privacy.”

“These companies enabled US government agencies to surveil Americans without a warrant and enabled foreign countries to spy on service members with just a credit card,” says Wyden, who also previously investigated Venntel with other members of Congress.

While the FTC’s orders don’t directly tackle the issue of government agencies purchasing Americans’ location data—information for which a warrant is normally required—Wyden says the cases nevertheless undermine the government’s case for allowing the purchases. The orders make clear, he says, that federal agencies are hiding behind a “flimsy claim that Americans consented to the sale of their data.”

In a statement, FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya notes that while surveillance conducted by private companies won't raise the same constitutional issues as surveillance by government, the difference between the two is “porous if not irrelevant” to the people being watched. "Governments have long relied on private citizens for work that would be impractical or illegal for law enforcement," he says.

Whether the orders against Gravy Analytics and Mobilewalla will be enforced remains to be seen. Major changes are coming to the agency under the future Trump administration—most expected to undermine years of work by Khan and her staff. Many of Donald Trump's allies have been vocally critical of Khan's aggressive pro-consumer approach, including Republican megadonor Elon Musk, who has taken command of an ad hoc office that will purportedly advise the White House on improving “government efficiency.”

FTC commissioner Andrew Ferguson, whose name was floated last month as a potential Khan replacement, partially concurred with the agency’s decision to bring cases against the two data brokers on Tuesday. He agreed the companies had taken insufficient steps to ensure consumer data was properly anonymized, adding that they’d failed to obtain the “meaningfully informed consent” of the consumers they targeted.

Unlike Khan, however, Ferguson argues that the companies did not run afoul of the law by “categorizing consumers based on sensitive characteristics,” such as whether they attend church or political meetings. “These are all public acts that people carry out in the sight of their fellow citizens every day,” he says.

Ferguson likewise chastised the agency for attempting to restrict the power of data brokers to target protesters specifically. “Treating attendance at a political protest as uniquely private and sensitive is an oxymoron,” he says.

In a separate action Tuesday morning, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it was taking steps to crack down on predatory data brokers that traffic in people’s financial information, calling the practice a gateway for “scamming, stalking, and spying.”

Musk, who donated more than $100 million toward Trump’s reelection, called publicly last week for the bureau to be “deleted.”

FTC Says Data Brokers Unlawfully Tracked Protesters and US Military Personnel

Stanislav Moiseyev, the organizer of the notorious Hydra Market, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Moscow court. Learn about the massive scale of this dark web marketplace and the international efforts to dismantle it.

****SUMMARY****

*   **Hydra Market Leader Sentenced:** Stanislav Moiseyev, the mastermind of the Hydra Market, was sentenced to life in prison and fined 4 million roubles by a Moscow court.

*   **Accomplices Punished:** Fifteen associates received prison sentences of 8 to 23 years and collective fines of 16 million roubles.

*   **Massive Seizures:** Nearly a ton of narcotics, forged documents, and hacking tools were confiscated, along with vehicles, property, and land.

*   **Hydra’s Impact:** Operating from 2015 to 2018, Hydra was the world’s largest dark web marketplace, generating $1.3 billion in 2020 alone.

*   **International Crackdown:** Hydra’s downfall in 2022 was led by German and US authorities, seizing servers and $25 million in cryptocurrency.

A Moscow court has sentenced Stanislav Moiseyev, the alleged mastermind behind the notorious Hydra Market, to life in prison and a fine of 4 million roubles. This notorious marketplace remained active from 2015 to 2018, reigning as the world’s largest dark web marketplace before its dismantling by German and US authorities in 2022.

Moiseyev wasn’t alone in his illicit enterprise. Fifteen accomplices were also convicted, receiving sentences ranging from 8 to 23 years in prison, along with hefty fines amounting to around 16 million roubles.

The court deemed the criminal organization well-coordinated, spanning across Russia and Belarus. Their operations were extensive, as Hydra remained a hub of illegal narcotics, stolen data, forged documents, hacking-for-hire, and money laundering services, generating $1.3bn in 2020 alone. 

The criminal network operated in Russia and Belarus. Court documents revealed that during the liquidation of the criminal community’s activities, law enforcement officers seized nearly a ton of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances from defendants’ residences, laboratories, garages, and cars equipped with special hiding places. These substances were “aimed at systematic commission of grave and especially serious crimes.”

“In addition, by the verdict of the court, the state’s income confiscated vehicles, land plots and immovable property of convicts. The court also retained the arrest imposed on the property to execute the sentence in terms of fines,” the press release from the Moscow region’s Prosecutor’s Office read.

Hydra’s downfall began in 2022 when German authorities, collaborating with US investigators, seized its servers and cryptocurrency assets estimated to be worth around $25 million and served a big blow to the dark web. Hydra alone accounted for an estimated 80% of all darknet market-related cryptocurrency transactions in 2021.

Screenshot from Hydra market homepage (Credit: Hackread.com)

It is worth noting that recently, Russian media reported the arrest of Mikhail Pavlovich Matveev, a suspected affiliate of ransomware groups Babuk, Conti, Darkside, Hive, and LockBit. Matveev has been linked to damaging ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure, government agencies, and businesses worldwide.

While the Hydra Market may be defunct, the court’s judgement sends a strong message, showing Russia’s willingness to combat large-scale cybercrime, even if it swerves from the country’s usual approach. Russian law enforcement generally turns a blind eye towards cybercrimes targeting individuals outside the country.

However, the large and domestic impact of Hydra’s operations apparently warranted this harsher punishment. This case also highlights the ongoing international efforts to dismantle these cybercrime marketplaces that facilitate illegal activities.

1.  **Finnish Dark Web Marketplace PIILOPUOTI Seized**
2.  **Authorities Seize Dark Web Marketplaces Sipulitie and Tsätti**
3.  **Operation Shipwrecked: US Seizes PopeyeTools Marketplace**
4.  **Major Dark Web Marketplace “Nemesis Market” Taken Down**
5.  **AlphaBay Marketplace busted; admin commits suicide in prison  
    **

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