Mega Breaches A 9 To 5 Job For Hacking Groups

There are a number of hacking groups making life difficult for consumers, but none quite as successful and regimented as Fin7. No one has tied the group to a country of origin, but the Russian-speaking group works on a regular business schedule. Generally, that’s a Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 type of gig with nights and weekends off. Their only job is stealing payment card information from mega corporations. Raking in $50 million a month, they’re clearly very good at it. Who knows? They may even offer health and retirement benefits.

Fin7 is far from the only hacking group out there, but they are arguably one of the most structured and best at what they do. Their most recent attack on Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor put 5 million identities for sale on the Dark Web. Fin7 was also behind hacking Trump Hotels, Whole Foods, and Chipotle, and they specialize in mega retail companies.

According to experts, the group is also behind successful spin-off factions. Carbanak is one splinter group, famously targeting financial institutions worldwide to the tune of over $1 billion. In many ways, one can look at Fin7 as a growing organization that’s diversifying its talents to maximize profits. Like many corporations, that’s not unusual for a business model geared toward growing its bottom line.

Mega hacking groups are a growing part of our cyber culture. They worm their way into our everyday lives and strike without warning. As we know, some groups work for specific governments with political agendas, while others are strictly financially motivated. We hear about the big corporate breaches, but we rarely hear about the everyday smaller hacks. There’s no reason to believe groups like Fin7 and others won’t stop at the mega hacks they’re known for, but it’s also likely that no matter how small your organization, it may get caught up in it too.

But there are some things that can be done to lower any company’s risk. Ensuring all computers and mobile devices are set up with all the relevant security software is paramount. Keeping all of those updated with the latest patches and versions of the software running on them is another important step. Once those are all in place, perform some awareness training on the latest cybersecurity threats. Don’t just stop at one time though. Make this ongoing. Threats change, evolve, and morph into more dangerous or just different ones. Having a one and done attitude doesn’t cut it anymore. Arming employees with the latest news and information on all these things will put you on the path to avoiding becoming the next news headline.

Fin7 and others are expanding and may end up including smaller hacks on smaller targets. Right now, anything and everything is up for grabs for these groups. Regardless of their next conquest, big or small, hacking groups are a force to be reckoned with. Their next target may be unknown, but it’s bound to be successful. That’s especially true when these cybercrime organizations are run the way many of us run our own lives; by going to work every day.

Stickley on Security