The phishing-as-a-service platform Rockstar2FA encountered a technical disruption on November 11, 2024, leading to significant changes in the cybercriminal ecosystem. The disruption, which appeared to stem from backend technical failures rather than an external takedown, caused pages associated with the service to become unreachable. Rockstar2FA, first documented by Trustwave in late October 2024, had enabled phishing attacks capable of bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA) by harvesting Microsoft 365 credentials and session cookies. The void left by its interruption has been swiftly filled by FlowerStorm, another emerging PhaaS offering.
FlowerStorm, active since at least June 2024, has witnessed a rapid increase in activity following Rockstar2FA’s collapse. Both services share several similarities, particularly in the format of phishing portal pages and methods used to harvest credentials via backend servers. They also abuse Cloudflare Turnstile to filter out bot traffic from their phishing pages. Despite these parallels, Sophos noted no conclusive evidence directly linking the two services, raising questions about whether the disruption represents a strategic shift or changes in personnel running the operations.
FlowerStorm primarily targets countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Germany, Singapore, and India. The most frequently targeted sector is the service industry, with a specific focus on engineering, construction, real estate, legal services, and consulting firms. The phishing attacks leverage a sophisticated setup involving redirects and counterfeit login pages, underlining a persistent trend of using readily available cybercriminal services and tools to conduct large-scale cyberattacks.
The findings underscore the evolving landscape of phishing-as-a-service operations, where attackers exploit commoditized platforms to execute sophisticated campaigns without requiring advanced technical expertise. FlowerStorm’s rise amid Rockstar2FA’s decline highlights the fluid nature of cybercrime infrastructure, demonstrating how swiftly attackers adapt to disruptions. This development also reinforces the importance of proactive cybersecurity measures to combat emerging threats targeting a wide range of sectors and geographies.
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