They are offering up to $15k reward for betraying your boss

A new type of side hustle has recently gained popularity among those willing to steal data from their current employers.

Cybercriminals are increasingly looking to hire people who work in banks, telecoms, and technology firms. Only they aren’t trying to poach you – they want you to keep your current job and spy on your boss.

Malicious hackers are seeking information that would help them breach those companies. Traditionally, they’ve relied on brute force, social engineering, and exploiting existing vulnerabilities to hack into companies.

However, according to the newest research by Check Point security researchers, criminals are now increasingly recruiting insiders within organizations to gain access to networks.

“Across darknet forums, employees are being approached, or even volunteering, to sell access or sensitive information for lucrative rewards. This trend poses a major blind spot for security teams,” Check Point said.

An insider can indeed cause significant damage by leaking login information or other sensitive data, disabling defenses such as multi-factor authentication.

“Most recruitment posts on the darknet are short and factual, but some use emotional manipulation. For example, in July, one ad urged employees to ‘escape the endless work cycle’ by collaborating with cybercriminals, promising payouts in the five- to six-figure range. Other posts target long-term staff with established network access, framing insider cooperation as a fast route to financial independence,” Check Point said.

Most sought after are employees within the financial services and cryptocurrency companies. In some cases, criminals were very specific, saying they needed insiders at Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Gemini, Accenture, and Genpact, among others. According to Check Point, some ads on the dark web even featured Spotify and Netflix.

The one-time reward for access or specific information ranges from $3,000-$15,000.

Technology companies also “enjoy” increased attention from cybercriminals as they hold sensitive customer data. Recent ads have been seeking insiders at Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi, with payouts reaching up to $10,000, as well as insiders at cloud service providers.

In telecoms, insiders are being recruited for SIM-swapping operations, helping attackers to bypass two-factor authentication. Such cooperation is worth $10,000-$15,000.

“The rise in insider recruitment underscores one of the most complex challenges in modern cybersecurity. Darknet ads appear regularly, sometimes from attackers seeking internal collaborators, and other times from employees motivated by greed, revenge, or ideology,” the researchers said.

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