How the Grinch Hacked Christmas

Every Fox in the Fox Den
Liked Christmas a lot…
But one mean old hacker, the Grinch
did NOT!

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his pockets were a little too light,
It could be, perhaps, he was green in spite.
But I think if I had to pick a reason, just one
It’s that while everyone else was getting gifts, he got none.

But,
Whatever the reason,
Whether theft or greed,
He found opportunity that Christmas Eve.
Staring into his screen, searching forum and chat,
He got an idea for a cyber attack.
For he knew every shopper, each girl and each boy
Would sure be too busy to notice his ploy.

The Grinch laughed as he shouted “I know just the right trick!”
So he made a fake profile that looked just like Saint Nick.
And he set up a website that looked oh so real,
Selling toys in exchange for credit card numbers he’d steal.

“I need a domain host,” the Grinch looked around,
And he chose one he thought would avoid a takedown.
But did the Grinch stop there?
No! He had just got his start,
He stole logos and images - yes this Grinch was smart,
And now that his website looked real as can be,
He posted on social for the whole world to see.

Then came the likes and comments
Post after click,
How could they not jump
On a sale straight from “Saint Nick”

As orders were placed his pockets did swell,
He thought to himself “oh this is doing so well’…….
If only, if only he could promote it some more
certainly all shoppers would knock on his door.

He posted fake ads to stimulate interest
Then joined a few discussion forums, even posted on Pinterest
And there, sure enough he enacted his plan
And started to message each Santa Claus fan.

The Grinch started DM’ing with a link to his site
And those shoppers, so eager for a sale on that night,
Thought, “a message from Santa! Asking for my christmas list!”
“With promises of overnight delivery for last minute gifts!”
With a deal this good, they didn’t even think
And in the blink of an eye, they clicked the devious link.
The Grinch, with a greedy smirk, started to scroll,
Through the hundreds of credit card numbers he’d stole.

Christmas morning arrived and the Grinch laughed with glee,
At the thought of no Christmas gifts under the tree.
No packages delivered from THAT Santa’s shop
He finally did it! He’d made Christmas stop!

Now to reap his reward! To a Dark Web source!
To sell off the credit cards for bitcoin, of course!
However, way up in Baltimore in a castle-like dwelling,
ZeroFox got wind of those stolen cards he’d be selling
You see, Santa, protected by ZeroFox, knew what step to take,
When he first got alerted of that domain fake.
A ZeroFox analyst jumped to the quick
to take down the offending site on behalf of St. Nick.

So on Christmas morning, with no gifts, big or small
The victims still celebrated in spite of it all.
And one family he’d scammed even posted online
How grateful they were, they didn’t complain, they didn’t whine
The Grinch was perplexed, did they not care?
That he’d stolen their Christmas? That their stockings were bare?

He paused, and he asked, “how could this be?”
“Without presents, why would they still be happy?”
He stopped just short of selling the credit card numbers
“Maybe presents aren’t what Christmas is all about…” he ponders.

The Grinch posted on the forum, but it’s not what you think
He confessed to his crime, said he’d remove the bad link.
He conspired with Santa to return all the funds,
And same-day reindeer delivered the packages one by one.

And what happened then…?
Well…at ZeroFox they say
That the Grinch’s bad habits
Were stopped on that day!
The minute he realized he had acted in vain,
That his plan had been foiled, he had nothing to gain,
Funds down the drain! His name in disdain!
He decided instead to team up with St. Nick
To stop other imposters and all of their tricks
A remarkable black hat to white hat conversion they say
And the Grinch’s own heart grew three sizes that day.
What a ‘gift’ the Grinch got, a real gift so great,
an enjoyable Christmas free from all hate.
Christmas had never felt so merry, so bright

All because…

…ZEROFOX took down the site!