A massive leak of photos of Brazilians – supposedly originating from police databases – is being offered for free on a forum in the Deep Web. There are over 300,000 images in the package available for download – identified on Monday night by specialists from Solo Iron – the cybersecurity unit of Solo Network, one of the largest Brazilian IT integrators.
"To access the forum, credits are required, which can be purchased. With access to the forum and using these credits, it is possible to download the photos for free," explains Felipe Guimarães, Head of the Solo Iron Cybersecurity Team. Some images may allegedly originate from the Civil Police of Espírito Santo – and many appear to be of people supposedly apprehended. Meanwhile, thousands of photos are in image formats used in Brazilian documents, enabling their use in criminal activities. The origin of the images could not be confirmed at this time.
Photos can be used by criminals to attempt to create fake bank accounts and fraudulent credit applications, and can also facilitate advanced fraud with the creation of deepfakes.
Companies on alert
Guimarães explains that the leak can trigger a significant increase in financial frauds, as criminals have access to potential data that allows the creation of fake profiles with an authentic appearance and the creation of deepfakes. "We recommend that companies – especially those in the financial sector – increase their alert level in the coming days due to the potential for fraud, and because the images are being distributed for free, further amplifying the possible volume of fraud attempts," he states.
It's not just companies that should stay alert. Consumers should also be attentive to suspicious communications from financial institutions – especially those requesting data confirmation, whether by email or phone. "It's not difficult, using image search, to find preliminary data about the owner of the photograph, such as name, social media links, age, email, among others. Therefore, in case of any suspicious contact, the consumer should contact the financial institution or consumer protection agencies," says Guimarães.
According to studies by Solo Iron, Brazil is a country with unique characteristics when it comes to cybercrime. Local groups – focused on financial frauds – have a range of tools available on the dark web for scams against individuals, from credit card use to PIX. These criminals have been operating alongside global actors, carrying out financial extortion against Brazilian companies, mainly through the use of ransomware and data kidnapping.
