The most well-known marketplaces RussianMarket.to have emerged as one of the most powerful enablers for many cyber criminals. It has been operating since February 2019 and is run by Russians. This platform acts as a one-stop shop for those people who want to buy stolen data or provide illicit digital services. That is why this platform has now become one of the most critical components when it comes to the underground economy. Due to its easy accessibility, scale, and anonymity, this platform provides to its users, it is considered a haven for cybercriminals. 

Why is this marketplace platform used by cybercriminals?

This platform is a dark web marketplace, and it specializes in the sale of compromised data. Such data includes all the stolen credentials, such as usernames and passwords, credit card information, bank login details, access to Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), malware, and other hacking tools.   

This platform cannot be accessed by any normal web browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. You must have a Tor browser if you need to conduct any kind of transaction on this platform, which makes it difficult for law enforcement agencies to trace the individuals who are involved in the cybercrime.  

Key features of this dark web platform

Some of the most essential features of this dark web platform that make it attractive to most of the cybercriminals include the following:

  • A wider range of data for sale: In this marketplace, you will get a wide collection of stolen credentials and sensitive information. This may include online banking details, e-commerce account details, corporate VPN credentials, email account credentials, etc. Thus, this platform provides cybercriminals a huge opportunity to purchase any type of compromised data, which they can use to commit any type of cyber attack.     
  • Low cost and high accessibility: Unlike any other forums that require high buy-in fees, this platform can be accessed at low cost. On this platform, cybercriminals usually find many stolen credentials for just a few dollars. This platform also provides some extra benefits for bulk purchases. This extra benefit option seems to be very appealing to entry-level cybercriminals. Moreover, this platform also comes up with user-friendly features and easy options for searching and filtering any data. 
  • Anonymity and payments: In this platform, the identities of the users are masked, and it does not require any kind of personal information. Moreover, all types of communication that are performed on this platform are conducted through encrypted channels.
  • Automated and scalable: This marketplace is highly automated, and thus it can provide instant delivery of any access details or any credential that is purchased. It also provides constant updating of listings along with fresh breaches.   

Conclusion  

This platform empowers a wide range of cyber criminals. Starting from novice hackers to organized crime syndicates, every cybercriminal uses this platform. Since its inception, this platform has remained an anonymous marketplace for many cybercriminals for the exchange of stolen data. Thus, this platform has posed a significant threat to global cyber security. Until and unless this platform remains operational and does not shut down, it will continue to be a boon for all cyber criminals and will facilitate everything that is required in cybercrimes, starting from petty fraud to major cyber breaches.