Notorious cyber crime group claims hijack of key rival's site on dark web
"We basically own them now," ShinyHunters said in an online chat with Reuters.
A prominent cybercrime collective, ShinyHunters, declared on Sunday that they had seized control of a key rival's dark web platform in a long-standing rivalry. The digital extortion group, renowned for its aggressive data theft campaigns, exploited a vulnerability in cl0p's software to gain extensive control over cl0p's infrastructure.
ShinyHunters announced, "We basically own them now," during an online exchange with Reuters. However, cl0p did not respond to requests for comment. The group's dark web presence was inaccessible on Sunday, but it displayed "Domain Seized By ShinyHunters" on Saturday, according to a screenshot from cybercrime research platform eCrime.ch.
Experts confirmed the dispute as genuine, with Brandon Parsons, a threat intelligence manager, stating, "Street beefs on the dark web are a real thing." Joe Roosen, senior director of security research, noted the rarity of such open conflicts among cybercrime groups. ShinyHunters claimed the feud stemmed from a 2022 data breach of Oracle's E-Business Suite (EBS) exploit, for which cl0p was responsible.
ShinyHunters alleged to have discovered the zero-day vulnerability before cl0p. The escalating conflict saw cl0p threatening to expose the identities of several members, while ShinyHunters threatened to reveal cl0p's internal workings. The authenticity of ShinyHunters' account remains unverified. Cl0p is recognized as one of the most prolific and innovative cybercrime groups, partially due to its adeptness in finding and exploiting enterprise software vulnerabilities.
In 2023, cl0p utilized a bug in MOVEit file management software to steal data from over 600 companies, affecting tens of millions of individuals. Recently, ShinyHunters claimed to have stolen millions of business records from video game developer Rockstar Games and caused widespread disruption to U.S. schools via a hack on education platform Canvas.
Recently, AI company Anthropic reported ShinyHunters-linked hackers attempting to exploit its tools.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
