What has long been common practice for providers of legitimate software is now also becoming a trend in the malware industry: luring new customers with attractive free offers and gradually selling them paid solutions. Criminals offer the Ginzo stealer for other criminals to steal cryptocurrency and data.
In March, malware researchers from G DATA CyberDefense discovered a new type of malware called Ginzo. Discovered by malware researchers from G DATA CyberDefense, the Ginzo stealer targets passwords, cryptocurrencies and system data.
Free malware to try
While there's nothing too surprising to report about this newcomer on the technical side, Ginzo is noteworthy in one respect: Unlike most malware, the makers of this malware offer it for free on underground forums. There are many reasons for this: A campaign to build up a good reputation in the scene is just as possible as a clever marketing campaign. That would be a classic strategy - so it is not uncommon for legitimate providers to offer a tool for free during the market launch. The next step would then be to introduce a payment model at a later point in time – once the tool is established enough and has a sufficiently large user base.
400 new Ginzo variants discovered
So far, the success seems to prove the creators behind Ginzo right, at least in this respect: "We saw 400 new variants of Ginzo within just ten days," says Karsten Hahn, Malware Analyst at G DATA CyberDefense. "This is a clear sign that the malware is currently being used very actively." Ginzo is an information stealer that not only targets passwords stored in the browser, but also cryptocurrencies and system data - and also steals access tokens for Discord .
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