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Introduction:
The underground economy for stolen credentials has undergone a fundamental shift. Infostealer logs – the harvested credentials, cookies, crypto wallets, and autofill data extracted from infected machines – are no longer traded exclusively on hidden Tor markets. Today, the most active marketplace operates in plain sight on Telegram, in what the cybercriminal scene calls “log clouds”: public channels that dump and sell credentials pulled from millions of compromised devices. There is no vetting, no special browser, and no waiting – an invite link or a keyword grants instant access to a firehose of stolen data. With the recent ALIEN TXTBASE exposure alone adding 284 million unique accounts to Have I Been Pwned from 23 billion rows of stealer logs, the scale of this threat demands immediate defensive action.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the ecosystem of Telegram-based “log clouds” and the major threat actors operating within them.
- Learn how infostealer malware exfiltrates data via Telegram’s Bot API and how logs are commoditized.
- Master proactive monitoring techniques, including OSINT workflows, Python automation, and threat intelligence platform integration.
- Implement credential hygiene, forced password resets, and multi-factor authentication to mitigate exposure.
- Deploy detection and response measures against infostealer activity across Windows, Linux, and cloud environments.
You Should Know:
- The Log Cloud Ecosystem: Moon Cloud, Daisy Cloud, Observer Cloud, and ALIEN TXTBASE
The trade of infostealer logs on Telegram is industrialized. Several major channels have emerged as persistent hubs:
- Moon Cloud: A clearing house that pulls logs from other channels and bot campaigns, reposting them in one place with some data free and the rest behind a paywall. It is heavily associated with logs harvested by Lumma Stealer, RedLine, and PXA Stealer.
- Daisy Cloud: Operating since 2021, leaning on RedLine-sourced logs with fresh daily uploads on a free-plus-paid model. It has survived by constantly renaming and cloning itself.
- Observer Cloud: More open than most, tagging dumps by the stealer that originated them (Lumma, RedLine) so buyers know exactly what they are getting.
- LOG SYNC: A mix of its own uploads and user-submitted logs, with paid logs dangled as free giveaways to grow the audience.
- ALIEN TXTBASE: The one that made global headlines. It posted hundreds of combolist files that, once aggregated, came to roughly 23 billion rows across 284 million unique accounts.
These channels operate on a SaaS-like model: bots automatically gather data from compromised machines and publish free sample dumps to attract subscribers, while premium or freshly stolen batches are sold via encrypted Telegram channels – some even leveraging bots to automate payments and distribution.
Step‑by‑step: OSINT Discovery of Telegram Log Channels
For threat intelligence professionals and security researchers, discovering and monitoring these channels is a critical capability:
- Keyword Search: Use Telegram’s search function with terms like
"stealer logs","combolist","log cloud","Lumma","RedLine","free logs", and specific channel names (Moon Cloud,Daisy Cloud,Observer Cloud). - Third-Party Aggregators: Monitor platforms like `telegramchannels.me` and `tgstat.com` which index channel descriptions and member counts.
- OSINT Tools: Use tools like `TelegramOSINT` (Python) to scrape public channel metadata:
from telethon import TelegramClient api_id = 'YOUR_API_ID' api_hash = 'YOUR_API_HASH' client = TelegramClient('session', api_id, api_hash) client.start() for entity in client.get_dialogs(): if 'log' in entity.name.lower() or 'stealer' in entity.name.lower(): print(f'{entity.name}: {entity.id} - {entity.date}') - Automated Alerting: Configure alerts for new channels mentioning your organization’s domain or brand using tools like DarkWiser, which indexes over 100 billion records across 50,000+ dark and deep web sources.
2. Infostealer Exfiltration via Telegram Bot API
Infostealers like LummaC2, RedLine, Raccoon, and PXA Stealer use Telegram’s Bot API as a command-and-control (C2) channel and data exfiltration pipeline. The malware sends HTTP requests to `https://api.telegram.org/bot
Step‑by‑step: Detecting Telegram Bot Exfiltration Traffic
Security teams can detect this activity through network monitoring and endpoint detection:
- Network Sniffing: Monitor outbound traffic to `api.telegram.org` on port 443. Use Zeek (Bro) or Wireshark to inspect TLS SNI fields.
2. Suricata Rule:
alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET 443 (msg:"Telegram Bot API Exfiltration"; tls.sni; content:"api.telegram.org"; nocase; sid:1000001;)
3. Windows Command Line (check for suspicious bot tokens in memory or command lines):
Get-Process | Where-Object { $_.Modules -match "telegram" } | Select-Object Name, ID
4. Linux Process Inspection:
ps aux | grep -i telegram lsof -i :443 | grep telegram
5. EDR Correlation: Hunt for processes spawning with command-line arguments containing bot tokens (format [0-9]{8,10}:[A-Za-z0-9_-]{35}). Example Regex:
\d{8,10}:[A-Za-z0-9_-]{35}
- Credential Hygiene and Mitigation: What to Do When Your Data Is in a Log Cloud
When credentials appear in stealer logs, the window for damage is narrow. Attackers use these logs for credential stuffing, account takeover, and as entry points for ransomware.
Step‑by‑step: Incident Response for Exposed Credentials
- Check Exposure: Use Have I Been Pwned’s API (free for domain owners with subscription) to query stealer logs by email domain or website domain. API example:
curl -X GET "https://haveibeenpwned.com/api/v3/breaches/account/[email protected]" -H "hibp-api-key: YOUR_KEY"
- Force Password Reset: Immediately reset passwords for all affected accounts. On Windows Active Directory:
Search-ADAccount -PasswordExpired | Set-ADAccountPassword -Reset -1ewPassword (ConvertTo-SecureString -AsPlainText "NewComplexP@ssw0rd!" -Force)
On Linux (shadow file):
passwd -e username Force password change on next login
3. Revoke Sessions: Invalidate all active sessions. For Microsoft 365:
Revoke-AzureADUserAllRefreshToken -ObjectId [email protected]
4. Enable MFA: Enforce multi-factor authentication everywhere supported. Use conditional access policies to block legacy authentication.
5. Monitor for ATO: Deploy UEBA tools to detect anomalous login attempts. Example Splunk query:
index=authentication sourcetype=windows_security EventCode=4625 | stats count by Account_Name, Source_Network_Address | where count > 5
4. Monitoring Telegram for Your Organization’s Exposed Data
Proactive monitoring is the only defense against the speed of log cloud distribution.
Step‑by‑step: Automated Telegram Monitoring with Python
Using the Telethon library, security teams can build scrapers to monitor channels for mentions of their domains:
1. Install Telethon:
pip install telethon
2. Script to Search Messages:
from telethon import TelegramClient, events
import re
api_id = 'YOUR_API_ID'
api_hash = 'YOUR_API_HASH'
client = TelegramClient('monitor', api_id, api_hash)
client.start()
@client.on(events.NewMessage(chats=['@observerbackup', '@mooncloud']))
async def handler(event):
if re.search(r'yourdomain.com', event.raw_text, re.IGNORECASE):
print(f'ALERT: Credential found in {event.chat.title}: {event.raw_text[:200]}')
Send alert to SIEM or Slack
client.run_until_disconnected()
3. Commercial Platforms: Deploy DarkWiser, which provides continuous 24/7 surveillance of Telegram channels, dark web forums, and paste sites with AI-driven correlation and risk scoring.
4. Alerting: Configure real-time notifications via email, Slack, or webhook when credentials are detected.
5. Hardening Endpoints Against Infostealer Malware
Prevention is better than remediation. Infostealers often arrive via phishing, malvertising, or cracked software.
Step‑by‑step: Endpoint Hardening (Windows & Linux)
- Windows:
1. Disable PowerShell script execution for non-admins:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Restricted -Scope LocalMachine
2. Enable Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules:
Set-MpPreference -AttackSurfaceReductionRules_Ids 92E97FA1-2EDF-4476-BDD6-9DD0B4DDDC7B -AttackSurfaceReductionRules_Actions Enabled
3. Block Telegram executable from running in non-business contexts via AppLocker or WDAC.
- Linux:
- Restrict outbound HTTP/HTTPS to known IPs using iptables:
iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -d 149.154.167.0/24 -j DROP Telegram IP range
- Monitor for suspicious cron jobs or systemd timers:
systemctl list-timers --all
- Use auditd to monitor sensitive file access (browser credential databases):
auditctl -w /home//.mozilla/firefox//logins.json -p r -k cred_access
6. Cloud Security: Protecting SaaS and IaaS Environments
Infostealer logs often contain credentials for cloud services, leading to cloud account takeovers.
Step‑by‑step: Cloud Hardening
- AWS:
1. Enable MFA for all IAM users.
2. Use AWS Config to detect unused credentials.
3. Monitor CloudTrail for unusual `ConsoleLogin` events:
SELECT userIdentity.userName, eventTime, sourceIPAddress FROM cloudtrail_logs WHERE eventName = 'ConsoleLogin' AND responseElements.ConsoleLogin = 'Failure'
– Azure:
1. Enforce Conditional Access policies blocking logins from high-risk countries.
2. Use Azure AD Identity Protection to detect and remediate leaked credentials.
3. Run `Get-AzureADUser` to audit guest accounts.
7. API Security: Protecting Against Bot-Based Abuse
Many infostealers use Telegram’s API for exfiltration. Organizations should also secure their own APIs against credential abuse.
Step‑by‑step: API Security Best Practices
- Rate Limiting: Implement per-IP and per-user rate limits (e.g., 100 requests/minute).
- API Key Rotation: Rotate keys every 90 days. Automate with:
aws secretsmanager rotate-secret --secret-id MySecret
- Input Validation: Sanitize all inputs to prevent injection attacks.
- Monitor for Anomalies: Use API gateways (e.g., Kong, AWS API Gateway) to log and alert on abnormal traffic patterns.
What Undercode Say:
- Key Takeaway 1: The Telegram log cloud ecosystem is not a fringe dark-web phenomenon – it is a mainstream, industrialized marketplace operating in plain sight, with channels like Moon Cloud, Daisy Cloud, and ALIEN TXTBASE distributing billions of stolen credentials with near-zero friction.
-
Key Takeaway 2: Defensive strategies must evolve from reactive breach notification to proactive, continuous monitoring. Platforms like DarkWiser and HIBP’s new APIs enable organizations to detect exposed credentials before attackers weaponize them.
Analysis: The ALIEN TXTBASE incident – 1.5TB of data, 23 billion rows, 284 million unique emails – represents a watershed moment. It demonstrates that infostealer campaigns have achieved industrial scale. The fact that this data was posted on a public Telegram channel with no encryption or access control underscores the brazenness of today’s cybercriminals. For defenders, the implications are clear: credential hygiene (unique passwords + MFA) is no longer optional; it is existential. Moreover, the availability of APIs to query stealer logs by domain empowers organizations to proactively identify and remediate compromised accounts. However, the cat-and-mouse game continues – channels clone and rename constantly, and new stealers emerge weekly. The only durable defense is a layered approach combining OSINT monitoring, endpoint hardening, cloud security, and user education. Organizations that fail to monitor Telegram for their exposed data are effectively flying blind in a threat landscape where their credentials are being sold for as little as a few dollars per log.
Prediction:
- +1 The integration of stealer log data into mainstream breach notification services like HIBP will significantly accelerate corporate adoption of proactive monitoring, reducing the average time-to-detection for compromised credentials from months to minutes.
-
+1 AI-powered threat intelligence platforms will increasingly automate the correlation of Telegram logs with internal user directories, enabling near-real-time forced password resets and session revocations, dramatically shrinking the window of opportunity for attackers.
-
-1 As Telegram channels become more resilient through constant renaming and cloning, law enforcement and platform takedown efforts will prove largely ineffective, forcing defenders to rely on technical monitoring rather than legal remedies.
-
-1 The commoditization of infostealer logs will lower the barrier to entry for ransomware groups, leading to a surge in attacks that begin with credential compromise from Telegram-sourced logs, particularly targeting SMBs with limited security resources.
-
-1 The ALIEN TXTBASE dataset, containing 244 million previously unseen passwords, will fuel a massive wave of credential stuffing attacks over the next 12–18 months, especially against financial services and e-commerce platforms. Organizations that have not yet enforced MFA across all user accounts face imminent risk.
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