Security News > 2022 > June > Google blocked dozens of domains used by hack-for-hire groups
Google's Threat Analysis Group has blocked dozens of malicious domains and websites used by hack-for-hire groups in attacks targeting high-risk targets worldwide.
Hack-for-hire groups target individuals and organizations in data theft and corporate espionage campaigns, with past victims including politicians, journalists, human rights and political activists, and various other high-risk users from all over the world.
"The breadth of targets in hack-for-hire campaigns stands in contrast to many government-backed operations, which often have a clearer delineation of mission and targets," Google TAG Director Shane Huntley said on Thursday.
Currently, Google TAG is tracking multiple hack-for-hire firms from several countries and their campaigns, including India, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Reuters also reported today that Indian cyber-mercenaries have also tried to hack "At least 75 U.S. and European companies, three dozen advocacy and media groups and numerous Western business executives," as well as into email inboxes belonging to the targets' lawyers, "Some 1,000 attorneys at 108 different law firms."
Huntley also shared the complete list of malicious domains blocked by Google while investigating the activity of hack-for-hire groups from India, Russia, and the UAE. Google TAG's team of security experts is also tracking a long list of state-backed and financially motivated threat actors, including dozens of surveillance vendors who sell their spyware to governments around the world.