Hackers claim to have swiped 30TB of data from three antivirus firms
HACKERS CLAIM TO HAVE successfully breached three US-based antivirus firms and made off with some 30TB of data.
US cybersecurity outfit Advanced Intelligence (AdvIntel) said in a blog post that a Russian and English-speaking hacking collective dubbed 'Fxmsp' spent the past six months trying to work its way into the unnamed antivirus firms' networks and its announced success on 24 April.
The group, which has a long-standing reputation for selling sensitive information from high-profile global government and corporate entities, is flogging both source code and network access to the companies for $300,000 and is providing samples that show "strong evidence" of the validity of its claims.
"Our subject matter experts assess with high confidence that Fxmsp is a credible hacking collective that has a history of selling verifiable corporate breaches returning them profit close to $1m," AdvIntel said.
The hackers offered up screenshots of folders that supposedly contained 30TB of data, claiming it was extracted from the breached networks.
"The folders seem to contain information about the company's development documentation, artificial intelligence model, web security software, and antivirus software base code," AdvIntel says in its report.
"Fxmsp also commented on the capabilities of the different companies' software and assessed their efficiency," the researchers wrote.
Ars Technica reports that the potential victims have been notified. AdvIntel, which first alerted law enforcement to the alleged intrusions, has not identified the victims publicly.
According to "ShadowRunTeam," another high-profile Russian threat actor, Fxmsp is reportedly a Russian nation resident living n Moscow with the first name Andrey. The man has allegedly been involved in cybercrime activities since mid-2000 and specialises in social engineering. µ
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