Hackers caught selling remote desktop protocol (RDP) access to hacked machines on Dark Web for $10. RDP shops emerge again and this time even bigger.

The RDP remote desktop protocol developed by Microsoft that allows a user to access another computer remotely. These dark web RDP shops sell RDP details of the hacked machines, that lets anyone bring down the system.

McAfee Threat Research team uncovered a range of RDP shops advertising 15 to more than 40,000 RDP connections for sale at Ultimate Anonymity Service (UAS), a Russian business and the largest active shop we researched.

With the compromised RDP servers attackers can mine cryptocurrencies, use for mass-mailing spam campaigns, credential harvesting and for Ransomware attacks.

Cyber-criminals may also use the RDP to gain access over the point-of-sale (POS) terminals that may cause a severe business impact.

RDP Shops Advertisement

RDP shops advertise that they have more than ranged from Windows XP through Windows 10, Windows 2008 and 2012 Server. The prices vary from $3 for simple systems and $19 for high configuration bandwidth systems with administrator rights.

Researchers said “We found hundreds of identically configured Windows Embedded Standard machines for sale at UAS Shop and BlackPass; all these machines were in the Netherlands. The configurations are associated with several municipalities, housing associations, and healthcare institutions in the Netherlands.”

Along with the RDP details some shops selling security numbers, credit card data, and logins to online shops.

Instead of distributing the Malware and infect the computer, Malware authors are earning money by selling their malware via Ransomware as a service cybercrime business model.

The dark web markets remain as a place for selling stolen credit cards, the underground offers hacker-for-hire services, hacking tools, tutorials and more. These dark web markets are accessible through anonymization services such as Tor or I2P.

Recently Codesigning certificates that prove the integrity of the application was sold in dark web markets “standard codesigning for $400 & Extended Validation (EV) certificate for $2,500.

RDP security measures

Use Strong passwords and enable 2FA.
Restrict access through firewalls
Limit the number of users log in
Account lockout policy
Check for unusual log in attempts.
Certificates and encrypted communications.
Network packet filtering