The Com: the growing cybercrime network behind recent Pornhub hack

"Ransomware hacks, data theft, crypto scams and sextortion cover a broad range of cybercrimes carried out by an equally varied list of assailants. But there is also an English-speaking criminal ecosystem carrying out these activities that defies conventional categorisation. Nonetheless, it does have a name: the Com. Short for community, the Com is a loose affiliation of cyber-criminals, largely native English language speakers typically aged from 16 to 25."

"The latest victims of the Com are premium users of PornHub, one of the world's largest pornography sites, who have had their search history and viewing habits hacked by a group called ShinyHunters. The gang has emerged from the Com's sprawling networks, whose constituents also include Scattered Spider, a collective that has been linked with hacks against British retailers M&S, the Co-op and Harrods."

"The Com is thought to comprise thousands of people but there is no formal membership and no tightly delineated groups. The Com ranges from 11-year-olds trying to hack Minecraft to people in their mid-20s targeting vulnerable kids online, says Aiden Sinnott, principle threat researcher at cybersecurity firm Sophos. Sinnott describes the Com as operating like a pipeline where older members groom younger recruits into carrying out increasingly sophisticated, and damaging, acts of cybercrime."

The Com is a loosely organised, English-language cybercriminal ecosystem composed largely of teenagers and people in their mid-20s, with no formal membership. Activities span ransomware, data theft, crypto scams, sextortion, bomb threats and targeted harassment of vulnerable children. Prominent subgroups emerging from the Com include ShinyHunters and Scattered Spider, linked to high-profile hacks such as breaches of PornHub and British retailers M&S, the Co-op and Harrods. Members communicate on platforms including Discord and Telegram, sometimes sharing extreme imagery and boasting about attacks. Older participants reportedly groom younger recruits into progressively more sophisticated and damaging criminal acts.

Read at www.theguardian.com