BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The FBI conducted a federal search warrant at 498 W. Ferry St. Tuesday morning in Buffalo.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that the search was in connection to an international operation against Genesis Market, a criminal online marketplace that sold data from compromised computers around the world. The FBI says a criminal online marketplace was operating at the West Ferry home.
SEE MORE: FBI searches West Ferry home in connection to international cyber operation
"It's on the open web. In other words, it's available for anybody but it's invite only," Arun Vishwanath, a cyber security expert, said.
Vishwanath said the website, that's now seized by the FBI, offered access to stolen data from more than one and a half million computers.
"It's very, very dangerous," Vishwanath said.
He added these hackers sometimes paid hundreds of dollars to gain access to people's personal information.
"They have stolen millions of credentials of people. So what's a credential? It's your passwords, their logins, their digital identities, to some extent, the internet browser fingerprints," he said.
According to the National Crime Agency there have been 120 arrests around the world, but so far no arrests have been announced here. Still, it is a crack down Vishwanath said is in progress.
"I'm glad they're going after them, right? We need to stop this," he said.
Vishwanath said you can see if you've been compromised by entering your email on haveibeenpwned.com. If you determined you have been compromised, Vishwanath said it's time to take action to protect yourself.
"Then you got to change your password, and if you're using that for other things like banking, for instance, talk to your bank, change your logins, change your passwords and it's time to get more proactive," he said.
The National Crime Agency also says there are several steps you can take to see if criminals are targeting you:
- Identify if any of your information has been compromised
- Do the same for any of your devices and online accounts
- Secure your devices against cyber attacks and protect your online accounts
- Report any suspicious activity to the proper authorities
If you have been active on Genesis Market, in contact with Genesis Market administrators, or are a victim of the marketplace, the DOJ is urging you to report by emailing the FBI at FBIMW-Genesis@fbi.gov.
