Phishing-as-a-Service Platform LabHost  Is Turned Over

Uploaded on 2024-04-22 in NEWS-Cybersecurity News, GOVERNMENT-Law Enforcement, FREE TO VIEW, TECHNOLOGY--Hackers

One of the most used phishing-as-a-service platforms, LabHost, has been taken down by an international group of law enforcement authorities co-ordinated by Europol. 

London's Metropolitan Police have  been working with Europol on an operation to infiltrate and close down a website used by more than 2,000 criminals to defraud victims worldwide in their  latest joint operation to tackle large-scale online fraud.  Now, 37 suspects have been arrested as part of the international operation led by Europol, including the original developer of the LabHost service and the LabHost platform is no longer available.

This is a second major blow to cyber crime following the takedown of Lockbit,  another 'managed service' cyber crime operator in February.

Cyber criminals who subscribed to LabHost were sent individualised, 90-second “LabHost Wrapped” videos informing them of the takedown operation as well as recording key evidence against them gathered by law enforcement, including:

  • When the individual first subscribed to LabHost.
  • How long they’ve been a subscriber.
  • How much they’ve paid to LabHost.
  • The number of IP addresses they’ve used to access LabHost
  • The domains they’ve used
  • The various countries and organisations they have targeted

LabHost is believed to have obtained 480,000 card numbers, 64,000 PIN numbers, and no less than one million account passwords. 

The cyber security  company Fortra has closely monitored LabHost in recent years and claims to to have mitigated tens of thousands of phishing attacks carried out by cyber criminals using the platform. Michael Tyler, Senior director of security operations at Fortra's Phish Labs unit commented “The takedown of LabHost by international law enforcement is sending shockwaves through the Phishing as a Service ecosystem... In addition to the high-profile arrests of LabHost operators, Fortra Threat Intelligence is observing other PhaaS platforms competing with LabHost experiencing service instability and suspending their communications and support channels."

LabHost was established up in 2021 and quickly gained a criminal user base. By this year it was operating more than 40,000 fraudulent sites had been created and 2,000 users were registered and paying a monthly subscription fee of  between $250 and $350, many of whom law enforcement officers are now been able to identify. 

The extent of of the data collected by this operation is remarkable and Forta expect numerous arrests as law enforcement uses this data to uncover the real-world identities of the criminals. Some have already been arrested, while others are now the focus of the ongoing investigation.

Phish Labs     |   Phish Labs    |    Europol    |       Metropolitan Police    |     

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