Cybersecurity experts have reported discovering a threat actor selling CAPTCHA solving services to its clients.
According to Arkose Cyber Threat Intelligence Research (ACTIR), the Greasy Opal group is based in the Czech Republic and has been selling all kinds of software, both legitimate and illegal, over the past 15 years. However, it caught the attention of researchers thanks to the CAPTCHA solving tool.
CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. It is a type of challenge-response test used to determine whether the user is a human or a bot. CAPTCHAs are designed to prevent automated software (bots) from doing things like creating accounts, sending emails, accessing secure websites, and the like. If you've opened at least one website in the past five years, you've probably seen a CAPTCHA. It's usually a grid of up to nine images, from which the user is asked to select a few similar ones. However, there are different variants.
“Remarkably fast”
According to ACTIR, Greasy Opal’s tool is a “remarkably easy, fast and flexible tool for automatic recognition of a wide range of CAPTCHAs.”
“Greasy Opal positions its service as an engine that significantly improves recognition speed (up to 10 times faster) and is therefore a replacement for competitive CAPTCHA solving solutions,” such as AntiGate, RuCaptcha or DeCaptcher, the researchers said.
The tools offered by Greasy Opal are apparently included in the package and cost $70 to purchase. There is also an additional monthly subscription of $10. Finally, those with more money can shell out an additional $100 to upgrade to the beta version and get the latest features.
A package that includes all of Greasy Opal's tools costs $190, plus an additional $10 subscription fee. Researchers believe Greasy Opal grossed at least $1.7 million last year.
Through Computer Security Magazine
