Security News > 2022 > July > Hackers for Hire: Adversaries Employ ‘Cyber Mercenaries’
Dubbed Atlas Intelligence Group, the cybergang has been spotted by security researchers recruiting independent black-hat hackers to execute specific aspects of its own campaigns.
The threat group markets services that include data leaks, distributed denial of service, remote desktop protocol hijacking and additional network penetration services, according to a Thursday report by threat intelligence firm Cyberint.
The report's author, Gihon, said only A.I.G. administrators and the group's leader-dubbed Mr. Eagle-know fully what the campaign will be and outsource isolated tasks to hired guns based on their skillsets.
"While many groups are focusing on one, maybe two, services that they offer, Atlas seems to grow rapidly and expand its operations in an efficient way which allows them to offer many services," Gihon wrote.
Telegram is the communication platform of choice for A.I.G., with the group operating three different Telegram channels with thousands of subscribers, researchers said.
Atlas sells its services primarily on an e-commerce store on the site Sellix.io, a forum that offers payment with cryptocurrency and acts as a broker, providing the privacy-conscious group with an extra layer of anonymity, Gihon said.