Broker who sold malware to the FBI set for sentencing

A Jordanian national faces sentencing in the US after pleading guilty to acting as an initial access broker (IAB) for various cyberattacks.

Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti, 40, admitted to facilitating cyberattacks on at least 50 companies stateside.

Residing in Georgia at the time, Albashiti's crimes were carried out in 2023. On May 19 of that year, while working under the alias r1z, he unwittingly sold an undercover FBI agent access to the businesses in exchange for cryptocurrency.

The agent spotted that Albashiti was advertising access to the companies that all used one of two firewall products. After making the purchase totaling $5,000, the IAB sent a list of IP addresses, usernames, and instructions on how to bypass the firewalls to gain access to the victims' networks.

Building a larger case against the man, the undercover agent later gave Albashiti a further $15,000 in exchange for a copy ...