AlphaLock, a hacker group that emerged just this year, calls itself a “pentesting training organization” that is monetizing its training services through affiliate programs.

With a business model split into two parts, the group trains hackers through online courses, such as the Bazooka Code course, which costs $185, under the guise of training pen testers. The second part is the ALPentest Hacking Marketplace. The group uses its freshly trained cohort of hackers “to create a marketplace where threat actors can purchase ‘pentesting services‘ targeted at a specific organization.”

The group’s Telegram channel, which has since gone private, offers even more detail.

“In two months, we have gathered a very strong staff and trained them for ourselves. The time will come when this era will end, and the best will simply disappear, and you will no longer hear about them; they will quietly earn a living for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” stated the post. “To all our colleagues, I recommend showing patience and applying efforts to study PenTesting. PenTesting is the future.”

Bazooka Code explained that it is preparing a platform where clients can view the pen tester’s progress as they conduct various tests. Threat actors will have the ability to list desired targets that they would like to pen test and others can pick and choose these companies, post proof of the attack, and fetch their reward.

Due to an influx of attention, however, the platform will be moved to a chat application known as Matrix, though Telegram will continue to be used for news updates, membership requests, and inquiries. Bazooka Code also wrote that it will launch a YouTube channel to further this experience and those interested in the platform can submit a portfolio.